Where journalists wear black

#89

Dear Friends of Democracy, 

How can one know whether governments are freedom-loving or tend towards authoritarian rule? 

You can decide by their dealings with the media in general and public broadcasting in particular. Because of its proximity to politics, the latter is particularly at risk of being used by authoritarian governments for their purposes. 

This danger currently exists in Slovakia.

Slovakia's government approved a controversial draft law that would replace the public broadcaster RTVS, remove its director general and allow a council partly selected by a ministry to appoint a new chief. 

Yesterday, many journalists in Slovakia wore black as a sign of protest, warning that the populist prime minister, Robert Fico, and his allies are undermining media freedom.

It seems things are taking a turn for the worse in Slovakia. 

The author Albert Camus once said that "a free press can, of course, be good or bad, but, most certainly, without freedom, the press will never be anything but bad." 

We’d better fight for a free press!

See you in Europe, 

Johannes