VOA标准英语2013--保护记者委员会:坦桑尼亚压制媒体

 

CPJ: Tanzania Repressing Media 保护记者委员会:坦桑尼亚压制媒体

The Committee to Project Journalists says a rise in attacks against the press in Tanzania is sowing fear and self-censorship among the media. The group says it has documented 10 attacks over the past year, including the killing¹ of a veteran cameraman by police.

CPJ consultant² Tom Rhodes is the author of a new report called The Invisible Plight³ of the Tanzanian Press. He says Tanzania’s image does not reflect the true state of the media.

“Tanzania routinely gets a positive report card both on press freedom indexes and good governance indexes and others. And you know we’ve had the recent visit from President Obama last month. And yet we’ve seen this trend of deteriorating⁴ press freedom conditions on two fronts. We’ve seen [an] increasing number of attacks and threats against the press and this is coupled with a whole series, a whole arsenal⁵ of anti-press laws – some of them since independence.”

One of the best known attacks on the press, he said, occurred last year.

“We really started noticing this deteriorating trend back in September 2012 when veteran reporter and cameraman Daudi Mwangosi was killed by police officers in southern Tanzania. While one officer, one junior officer, was actually charged and arrested for the murder, there were many others documented by video evidence, who are also involved and implicated⁶, and they didn’t face any problem,” he said.

Mwangosi was shot while covering an opposition⁷ rally. Rhodes said it happened during an altercation⁸ with police over the arrest of another journalist.

“Another major one was on the chairman of the editors’ forum⁹. This is Absalom Kibanda. This is back in March where he was brutally¹⁰ attacked – absolutely horrifically tortured. And to this day we have no idea who did it.”

Rhodes said two attackers cut off the top of Kibanda’s right ring finger; pierced his left eye and pried¹¹ out several teeth and fingernails. Kibanda is back in Tanzania after being treated in South Africa.

“When these prominent journalists are attacked and there isn’t justice served for them it sends a chilling message for the rest of the local press and especially the local press outside of Dar es Salaam¹². I mean I think that these are some of the hidden victims that we’re seeing here in Tanzania, the reporters, not in the capital, but actually in the rural-base settings,” he said.

Tanzanians primarily speak Swahili. Rhodes said that means news in the country may not receive as much international attention as that in Kenya or Uganda where English is spoken.

“We’re starting actually to see some cracks within the system, within the ruling party, which has been in power since independence. And I don’t think they’re used to the criticism or the dissent¹³ within the public. This is always the case, not only in Tanzania, but other countries as well, once the ruling party feels that its hold on power is weakened they start cracking down on the press,” he said.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said, “The government should consult with media outlets¹⁴ and journalists to draft and adopt an access-to-information law.” It also calls on Tanzanian officials to repeal¹⁵ all laws that restrict press freedom and lift any suspensions on media outlets.

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

3 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

4 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

5 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。

6 implicated   

adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的

参考例句：

• These groups are very strongly implicated in the violence. 这些组织与这起暴力事件有着极大的关联。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Having the stolen goods in his possession implicated him in the robbery. 因藏有赃物使他涉有偷盗的嫌疑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 altercation   

n.争吵，争论

参考例句：

• Throughout the entire altercation,not one sensible word was uttered.争了半天，没有一句话是切合实际的。
• The boys had an altercation over the umpire's decision.男孩子们对裁判的判决颇有争议。

9 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

10 brutally   

adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地

参考例句：

• The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
• A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。

11 pried   

v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的过去式和过去分词 )；撬开

参考例句：

• We pried open the locked door with an iron bar. 我们用铁棍把锁着的门撬开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• So Tom pried his mouth open and poured down the Pain-killer. 因此汤姆撬开它的嘴，把止痛药灌下去。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

12 salaam   

n.额手之礼，问安，敬礼；v.行额手礼

参考例句：

• And the people were so very friendly:full of huge beaming smiles,calling out "hello" and "salaam".这里的人民都很友好，灿然微笑着和我打招呼，说“哈罗”和“萨拉姆”。
• Salaam is a Muslim form of salutation.额手礼是穆斯林的问候方式。

13 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

14 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。