In the censors' sights

Two-thirds of the world’s population has no access to free media, even though the number of communications satellites and Internet connections has grown across the globe. Technological developments in the media have made the world neither more democratic nor have they made the media freer.

The digital gap between those who have access to new information media and those who do not is growing daily. For some time now, the censors – as the examples of China and Iran reveal – have been arming themselves digitally. In view of the uncontrolled flow of information, however, not even uncensored access to the Internet offers any guarantee of credible information.

In conflict regions, journalists – and with them, the freedom of the press – are increasingly finding themselves caught between the fronts. In Afghanistan, journalists critical of Islam fear for their lives. In China, tens of thousands of state agencies keep the Internet under surveillance.

How can overseas broadcasters such as the Deutsche Welle provide independent and uncensored information – even from troubled areas? How is it possible to compensate for modern forms of censorship in the Internet, over the air and in the press? How can journalists be protected across the globe so that the media can perform its role as the fourth estate?

Discussing this question with an eye on the Day of Freedom of the Press are:

Rahimullah Samander, chairman of the Afghanistan Journalists’ Association, Kabul

Bahman Nirumand, Iranian author and journalist, Berlin

Shi Mingh, Deutsche Welle, Bonn

Moderation: Peter Sturm, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ)

An event held by the Deutsche Welle