Reporters Sans Frontieres recently visited Gaza to examine the general security for journalists. A press release made some surprisingly strong comments – by RSF standards – about the general state of Palestinian journalism:
It is also vital that all Palestinian factions should quickly agree on a joint statement calling for both local and foreign journalists to be respected. The opening-up of the state-owned media – the news agency WAFA and the radio and TV broadcaster PBC – to all Palestinians regardless of their political affiliation are also essential conditions for improving press freedom.
Lastly, the creation of a regulatory body would help control the excesses of media used as propaganda outlets by certain factions. Professionalising the media and giving them a universally-recognised status would also help to combat the stigmatisation of journalists, who are often branded as “traitors to the nation” as soon as they try to stand back and put some distance between themselves and the political parties.
Read RSF’s full report (pdf format).
