One just can’t help but note the irony here.
The United States is pleased to announce that it will host UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day event in 2011, from May 1 – May 3 in Washington, D.C. UNESCO is the only UN agency with the mandate to promote freedom of expression and its corollary, freedom of the press.
The theme for next year’s commemoration will be 21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers. The United States places technology and innovation at the forefront of its diplomatic and development efforts. New media has empowered citizens around the world to report on their circumstances, express opinions on world events, and exchange information in environments sometimes hostile to such exercises of individuals’ right to freedom of expression. At the same time, we are concerned about the determination of some governments to censor and silence individuals, and to restrict the free flow of information. We mark events such as World Press Freedom Day in the context of our enduring commitment to support and expand press freedom and the free flow of information in this digital age.
This story broke the same week that the FCC is under fire for trying to control content on the airwaves.
Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) pushed back on Monday against a contention by a Democratic FCC commissioner that the government should create new regulations to promote diversity in news programming.
Barton was reacting to a proposal made last week by FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, who in a speech suggested that broadcasters be subject to a new “public values test” every four years.
“I hope … that you do not mean to suggest that it is the job of the federal government, through the [FCC], to determine the content that is available for Americans to consume,” Barton wrote Monday in a letter to Copps.
Copps had suggested that the test would make a broadcaster’s license renewal contingent upon proof that they meet a prospective set of federal criteria.
And let’s not forget the administration’s push for net neutrality.
Tags: fairness doctrine, fcc, net neutrality, press freedom day, public values test
It may not be the same thing but one of my favorite sites has been shut down. Can it be the FCC? Weaselzippers.com is now forbidden teritory and it refers to some comment about Obama. LC, can you check this out?
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I did a search and it doesn’t look like it was shut down by the government.
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Thanks LC, I got a strange mesasge when I tried to access it. Something like “Forbidden web site and server” and then I got one that mentioned Obama and a negative comment about him.
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UNESCO is a big scam.
UN officials skim funds (or get kickbacks.)
Thugs, Tyrants and Warlords steal the food.
Get the US out of the UN and the UN out of the US.
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