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Finland’s Deputy State prosecutor has filed charges against a former editor and two reporters for newspaper Helsingin Sanomat (HS). The three are alleged to have disclosed or attempted to disclosed state secrets in publishing a report about a military intelligence facility in 2017. Documents were involved though they were not charged with illegal possession, reported public broadcaster YLE (October 29).
Former acting editor Kalle Silfverberg and investigative reporters Laura Halminen and Tuomo Pietiläinen have denied the charges and refused all comment. A pre-trail investigation by the prosecutors in 2017 yielded no charges though the case has come before the Supreme Court three times. With Finland’s reputation for press freedom and journalistic integrity this is like telling a kid there is no Santa Claus. (See more about investigative reporting here)
At the time of publication Finland’s parliament was drafting “exceptional” legislation to amend the Constitution to give intelligence agencies “extensive power to monitor the network,” said a statement from publisher Sanoma (October 29). “There were strong social grounds for writing the article.” Finland and the Russian Federation share a 1,340-kilometer (832-mile) north-south land border. An opinion poll, published by YLE (October 25), showed Finns increasingly wary of their eastern neighbor, younger people most of all. (See more about press/media freedom here)
“This case undermines Finland’s reputation as a global safe haven for press freedom,” said International Press Institute (IPI) Executive Board chairperson Khadija Patel, in a statement (October 29). “At a moment in which governments around the world are ramping up pressure on independent media, to see a country like Finland take steps to punish journalists for public-interest reporting is disturbing and disheartening. Unfortunately, cases like this can inadvertently give cover to authoritarian states, and they undermine the ability of Finland and other democratic countries to defend independent journalism across the globe.” The IPI statement noted that HS posted billboards across Helsinki promoting press freedom coinciding with the 2018 summit of former US president Donald Trump and Russian Federation president Vladimir V. Putin, neither strong supporters of news media independent of government control.
The Taliban released freelance photojournalist Morteza Samadi after about six weeks detention, said Reporters sans Frontieres Germany (RSF/ROG) spokesperson Katja Heinemann, quoted by German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) (October 26). He had been detained after taking photographs of a demonstration in Herat. The Taliban accused him of “espionage for the West.” Circumstances of his release and current location were not disclosed.
After a few weeks of media frenzy in August, news from Afghanistan has slowed to a trickle. News crews from big broadcasters and publishers have relocated to safety. The few remaining Afghan news media have significantly reduced visibility. News from the country now largely comes from freelancers like Mr. Samadi. (See more about press/media freedom here)
The Afghanistan National Journalists Union (ANJU) reported this week at least 30 cases of violence or threats thereof against reporters, most at the hands of Taliban, said the group’s director Masorro Lutfi, quoted by AP (October 28). A few attacks, he said, came from unknown persons. ISIS terrorists claimed responsibility for the October 2 murder of broadcaster and former agriculture department spokesperson Sayed Maroof Sadat in Jalalabad, eastern Nangarhar province. In September, ANJU director Fahim Dashti was killed in Panjshir province.
Earlier this month popular Afghan newspaper Etilaatroz founder Zaki Daryabi left Kabul with his family. The Taliban had been searching for him. After two of the newspaper’s reporters were brutally beaten, he left. “They suffered while I remained in Kabul,” he said to Los Angeles Times correspondent Nabih Bulos (October 27). An hour after his flight left for Doha, Qatar the Taliban stormed the newspaper’s office demanding to know his whereabouts. He, his family and the two beaten reporters are in a refugee camp from which he keeps hope for Etilaatroz. “Afghanistan should not be without journalists or media again.”
Populist, nativist ideologues in the Polish government continue to chase culture war windmills aimed to politicise the country’s media sector. Poland’s media regulator KRRiT recently demanded all licensed radio and television operators provide copious ownership details, including shareholders’ home addresses. The primary target of ire is broadcaster TVN, principally owned by major international media house Discovery.
Licensing approval for all news channel TVN 24 was delayed nearly 600 days as the Polish government explored various avenues to “repolonize” the country’s privately-owned media. MPs for the right-wing, populist, nativist, xenophobic Law and Justice (PiS) party drafted legislation to force foreign owners to cede operational control to Polish partners. That legislation - dubbed “Lex TVN” - failed to find sufficient support for passage and the KRRiT granted renewal for the TVN 24 license. US-based Discovery Group, principal owner of the TVN family of channels, had relicensed TVN 24 to the Netherlands, European Union law becoming a shield. (See more about media in Poland here)
KRRiT director Witold Kolodziejski, a PiS appointee, has also asked the Constitutional Tribunal to “investigate” whether or not “entities outside the European Economic Area” can be broadcast license holders, reported Bezprawnak (October 29). The Court of Justice for the European Union recently determined that Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal is biased by PiS political appointees and should be disbanded. It is all part of the continuing drama surrounding rule of law issues in Poland.
Inviting the Constitutional Tribunal to the broadcast licensing circus is a non-transparent effort by the political appointees to succeed where the parliament failed. The current president of the Constitutional Tribunal is Julia Przylebska, considered “close” to PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski. A year ago, she authored the decision rendering the abortion procedure unconstitutional in every case. The decision led to widespread protests in major cities. The European Parliament (EuroParl) formally condemned Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal (October 21) as “a tool for legalizing the illegal activities of the authorities” and said prime minister is “further misusing the judiciary as a tool to achieve his political agenda.”
Effects from the coronavirus pandemic are wringing much of the media sector, big social media excepted. Already under pressure on several fronts, publishers continue to reallocate resources in search of greener pastures or, al least, less red ink. Or any ink, actually.
Announced officially this week after considerable speculation, Italian publisher 24 Ore Group is closing the printing plant in Carsoli and relocating production staff to Rome or Milan. In addition, owner Confindustria Group is trimming 60 of 273 editorial employees from newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore and radio station Radio 24 and business news agency Radiocor plus severing 80 administrative employees, noted Il Fatto Quotidiano (October 25). The intention is “to streamline activities and accelerate digital transformation.” (See more about media in Italy here)
Italian national trade union CGIL, expectedly, blasted the move as less “restructuring” and more “professional impoverishment,” said a statement. “The government must urgently intervene by implementing a structural reform of the sector and financed by the European resources made available for the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). The goal to be achieved is to foster digital transformation, protecting freedom of information, that is: ensuring the economic solidity necessary to be correct and transparent.” (See more about digital transition here)
Confindustria president Carlo Bonomi wants to move quickly. Those employees willing to leave voluntarily - and receive two years payout - must give notice by the end of November. After that, less generous dismissals will follow in December. Confindustria is the Italian employers’ federation, essentially the national chamber of commerce. Il Sole 24 Ore is Italy’s major business and financial newspaper. Radio 24 is a national all-news radio channel, on the air since 1999.
Poland’s Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport was established by the current government to succeed a long tradition of ministerial culture agencies. Its “patriotic fund” provides money to favored organizations, including those defending against “radical left-wing organisations,” reported Euractiv (October 19). The Culture Ministry is also changing the country’s national anthem to reflect nationalist grandeur. Other Polish Ministries act as “guardians” of this “patriotic” mythology. The current Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Piotr Glinski, was appointed a year ago.
Through its long standing mandate the Culture Ministry has financially supported a range of “opinion-forming” magazines steeped in the robust Polish intellectual community. In recent years, that support has noticably shifted, reported media portal Press PL (October 22). In the last funding round (2019) 36 mostly left-leaning publications were dropped, replaced by religious and nativist magazines that support the Law and Justice (PiS) party positions. (See more about media in Poland here) (See more about media support here)
Receiving support is Political Theology (Teologia Polityczna), irregularly published with ultra-conservative Catholic opinion since 2003. Another is Pressje, self-described as “sushi-conservative” favoring republicanism and the Jagiellon kings that ruled Poland and Lithuania in the 14th Century. Losing out was Political Critique (Krytyka Polityczna), written by left-wing intellectuals supporting social inclusion and European integration. It has turned to crowdsourcing.
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