Month: April 2018

Incessant attacks on the media by populist politicians are posing a threat to major democracies, two international watchdogs said on Wednesday. 

In their annual reports on the state of press freedom around the world, Reporters Without Borders and Freedom House harshly criticized Western populist leaders for discrediting the media, berating journalists, and threatening to impose restrictions. 

“As recently as five years ago, global pressure on the media did not appear to affect the United States or the established democracies of Europe in any significant way,” Freedom House said in its report, “State of Global Press Freedom, 2017-2018.” “Today, populist leaders constitute a major threat to free expression in these open societies.”

Reporters Without Borders offered a strikingly similar assessment, warning that “more and more, democratically-elected leaders no longer see the media as part of democracy’s essential underpinning, but as an adversary to which they openly display their aversion.”

President Donald Trump came in for harsh criticism from both organizations. Reporters without Borders called him “a media bashing enthusiast,” while Freedom House warned that Trump’s characterization of the media as “the enemy of the American people” and his disparagement of journalists and media organizations have “‘undermined public trust in fact based journalism.”

​The White House could not be immediately reached to respond to the criticism. 

Reporters Without Borders’ annual Press Freedom Index evaluates press freedom in 180 countries on a scale of 1 to 180, with 1 being the freest and 180 the least free.

In this year’s index, Norway stole the top spot from Finland while North Korea remained at the bottom at No. 180. 

The U.S. ranked 45th , down two places, continuing a trend that started under the administration of former President Barack Obama but accelerated under Trump.The ranking puts the United States in the same camp as Belize, Italy, Romania, and South Korea.

Europe, which historically has had the freest press in the world and had eight of the freest press sectors in the world, notched the largest decline in its regional indicator. 

In France, a journalist was hustled out of a press conference last May when he asked a politician about involvement in a scandal. 

In Poland, regulators fined a leading TV station for “promoting illegal activities” through its coverage of antigovernment protests, Freedom House said. 

And in Hungary, the free press has all but vanished as businessmen associated with the ruling party have “acquired most of the last bastions of independent media,” according to Freedom House. 

“That’s what we mean when we talk about hatred of journalists coming from political leaders in non authoritarian regimes which is really concerning,” said Margaux Ewen, North America director for Reporters Without Borders.

​The “Trump Effect” rippled into countries such as Turkey, which remains the world’s biggest jailer of journalists and the Philippines where President Rodrigo Duterte has openly threatened journalists. 

In Cambodia, which fell ten places in the RSF index, the government has used Trump’s criticism to justify a major crackdown on independent media.

Sarah Repucci of Freedom House said the comparison is misleading. While the Cambodian press is highly restricted, she said, the U.S. media has vigorously pushed back against Trump’s attacks.

While every region of the world saw declines in press freedom, there were some bright spots in parts of Africa where several authoritarian leaders have left office. 

Among them: Gambia, where a new president has promised a less restrictive press law and the inclusion of freedom of expression in the country’s constitution, jumped 21 places, Africa’s biggest leap forward, according to Reporters Without Borders.
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Incessant attacks on the media by populist politicians are posing a threat to major democracies, two international watchdogs said on Wednesday. 

In their annual reports on the state of press freedom around the world, Reporters Without Borders and Freedom House harshly criticized Western populist leaders for discrediting the media, berating journalists, and threatening to impose restrictions. 

“As recently as five years ago, global pressure on the media did not appear to affect the United States or the established democracies of Europe in any significant way,” Freedom House said in its report, “State of Global Press Freedom, 2017-2018.” “Today, populist leaders constitute a major threat to free expression in these open societies.”

Reporters Without Borders offered a strikingly similar assessment, warning that “more and more, democratically-elected leaders no longer see the media as part of democracy’s essential underpinning, but as an adversary to which they openly display their aversion.”

President Donald Trump came in for harsh criticism from both organizations. Reporters without Borders called him “a media bashing enthusiast,” while Freedom House warned that Trump’s characterization of the media as “the enemy of the American people” and his disparagement of journalists and media organizations have “‘undermined public trust in fact based journalism.”

​The White House could not be immediately reached to respond to the criticism. 

Reporters Without Borders’ annual Press Freedom Index evaluates press freedom in 180 countries on a scale of 1 to 180, with 1 being the freest and 180 the least free.

In this year’s index, Norway stole the top spot from Finland while North Korea remained at the bottom at No. 180. 

The U.S. ranked 45th , down two places, continuing a trend that started under the administration of former President Barack Obama but accelerated under Trump.The ranking puts the United States in the same camp as Belize, Italy, Romania, and South Korea.

Europe, which historically has had the freest press in the world and had eight of the freest press sectors in the world, notched the largest decline in its regional indicator. 

In France, a journalist was hustled out of a press conference last May when he asked a politician about involvement in a scandal. 

In Poland, regulators fined a leading TV station for “promoting illegal activities” through its coverage of antigovernment protests, Freedom House said. 

And in Hungary, the free press has all but vanished as businessmen associated with the ruling party have “acquired most of the last bastions of independent media,” according to Freedom House. 

“That’s what we mean when we talk about hatred of journalists coming from political leaders in non authoritarian regimes which is really concerning,” said Margaux Ewen, North America director for Reporters Without Borders.

​The “Trump Effect” rippled into countries such as Turkey, which remains the world’s biggest jailer of journalists and the Philippines where President Rodrigo Duterte has openly threatened journalists. 

In Cambodia, which fell ten places in the RSF index, the government has used Trump’s criticism to justify a major crackdown on independent media.

Sarah Repucci of Freedom House said the comparison is misleading. While the Cambodian press is highly restricted, she said, the U.S. media has vigorously pushed back against Trump’s attacks.

While every region of the world saw declines in press freedom, there were some bright spots in parts of Africa where several authoritarian leaders have left office. 

Among them: Gambia, where a new president has promised a less restrictive press law and the inclusion of freedom of expression in the country’s constitution, jumped 21 places, Africa’s biggest leap forward, according to Reporters Without Borders.
…

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Seminomadic herdsmen armed with guns killed 16 people Tuesday in an attack on a church congregation in a central state of Nigeria plagued by communal violence, police said.

Hundreds of people have died in clashes this year between herders and farmers in central Nigeria in an outbreak of violence that has put pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari less than a year before an election he wants to contest.

The bloody clashes, linked to grazing rights and dwindling fertile land, have raised questions about the government’s ability to maintain security in the country.

Moses Yamu, a police spokesman in Benue state, said the attack took place around 6 a.m. (0500 UTC) in the village of Ayar Mbalom, in Gwer East local government authority.

“Sixteen persons were confirmed killed, including two priests,” said Yamu.

Herdsmen involved in the communal violence are mainly Muslims from the Fulani ethnic group, while members of the settled farming communities are mostly Christian. Attacks have been carried out by both sides.

Mass burial

Seventy-three people were killed in central states — known as the “Middle Belt” — in the first few days of 2018, prompting a high-profile mass burial in Benue state’s capital, Makurdi.

Critics of Buhari, a Muslim who is Fulani, have accused him of failing to crack down on herdsmen because they are from the same ethnic group — an accusation his administration has repeatedly denied.

The latest killings were described as “heinous” by Buhari, 75, a former military ruler who vowed to improve security when he took office in May 2015.

“Violating a place of worship, killing priests and worshippers is not only vile, evil and satanic, it is clearly calculated to stoke up religious conflict and plunge our communities into endless bloodletting,” he said in a statement.

Buhari declared earlier this month that he would seek a second term. His candidacy depends on party approval, which is widely seen as a formality.

The Middle Belt region includes a number of swing states that could play a significant role in determining Buhari’s electoral prospects.
…

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Seminomadic herdsmen armed with guns killed 16 people Tuesday in an attack on a church congregation in a central state of Nigeria plagued by communal violence, police said.

Hundreds of people have died in clashes this year between herders and farmers in central Nigeria in an outbreak of violence that has put pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari less than a year before an election he wants to contest.

The bloody clashes, linked to grazing rights and dwindling fertile land, have raised questions about the government’s ability to maintain security in the country.

Moses Yamu, a police spokesman in Benue state, said the attack took place around 6 a.m. (0500 UTC) in the village of Ayar Mbalom, in Gwer East local government authority.

“Sixteen persons were confirmed killed, including two priests,” said Yamu.

Herdsmen involved in the communal violence are mainly Muslims from the Fulani ethnic group, while members of the settled farming communities are mostly Christian. Attacks have been carried out by both sides.

Mass burial

Seventy-three people were killed in central states — known as the “Middle Belt” — in the first few days of 2018, prompting a high-profile mass burial in Benue state’s capital, Makurdi.

Critics of Buhari, a Muslim who is Fulani, have accused him of failing to crack down on herdsmen because they are from the same ethnic group — an accusation his administration has repeatedly denied.

The latest killings were described as “heinous” by Buhari, 75, a former military ruler who vowed to improve security when he took office in May 2015.

“Violating a place of worship, killing priests and worshippers is not only vile, evil and satanic, it is clearly calculated to stoke up religious conflict and plunge our communities into endless bloodletting,” he said in a statement.

Buhari declared earlier this month that he would seek a second term. His candidacy depends on party approval, which is widely seen as a formality.

The Middle Belt region includes a number of swing states that could play a significant role in determining Buhari’s electoral prospects.
…

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Perched on a dirt tower on the edge of a bog in Kivoo village, eastern Kenya, Erastus Njiru applies finishing layers of mud to a pile of bricks.

“I can sell up to 3,000 of these per week,” said the 34-year-old, inspecting his work as he dried his muddy hands with a worn towel.

“Each brick goes for 8 Kenyan shillings ($0.08), so in a good week I can make up to 24,000 Kenyan shillings ($240.00),” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Njiru is one of an increasing number of Kenyans selling and buying earth bricks to build homes which are cooler, cheaper and more environmentally friendly than the more typical stone houses.

About 15 percent of new homes are now built with mud bricks, compared to less than 1 percent in 2010, according to Aidah Munano, a senior official at the Kenyan ministry of land, housing and urban development.

Unlike quarrying, which involves clearing trees to make room for excavations, mud bricks only require a bit of dirt and water, said Gitonga Murungi, a Kenyan conservationist.

“Demand for mud bricks is on the rise in rural Kenya because they cool homes during hot days and keep them warm at night,” he said.

They also cost about half as much as bricks made from stone quarrying, he added.

Njiru agrees. “People are giving up on building homes with quarry stones because they are expensive,” he said.

“And the government says that quarrying and sand harvesting damage the environment,” he added.

Having dropped out of high school due to a lack of funds, the former farmer now proudly pays for his children’s education.

“I used to barely get by when growing maize and beans,” he explained. “But now I make a lot more by selling mud bricks to residents and property developers in the area.”

Rising Heat

Extreme heat across the country is a threat to many Kenyans as “their crops and livestock waste away due to a lack of water,” according to Ayub Shaka, deputy director at the Meteorological Department.

Rising temperatures made Milka Njeri, a sorghum farmer from nearby Kanyuambora village consider brick-making as a way of making extra money.

Njeri said some days are so hot she has to stay indoors and can only start work in her fields as the sun sets.

Like Njiru she has started molding bricks at home using mud from a nearby bog to compensate for the lost income from farming — while sheltering from the heat.

“It is not much but I can make an extra 2,000 Kenyan shillings ($20) a week by selling bricks at construction sites,” she said.

Protecting the Environment

Brick makers should ensure their work does not end up damaging the environment as well, said Violet Matiru, a conservationist at the Millennium Community Development Initiatives, a local charity that raises awareness of environmental issues.

“We need to be careful that brick-making doesn’t use up all the soil in bogs because it stores excess water during floods and helps limit their impact,” she explained.

James Nyang’aya, a researcher at the University of Nairobi, thinks that while mud-brick homes can help communities adapt to rising heat, they are not the only solution.

“People should not just change their homes, but (also) their way of life,” he said.

Wearing light clothes and planting trees around homes to provide shade can also help cope with extreme temperatures, he said.

“You can even build your home’s doors and windows according to the wind direction to create your own air conditioning,” he added.

($1 = 100.0000 Kenyan shillings)
…

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Perched on a dirt tower on the edge of a bog in Kivoo village, eastern Kenya, Erastus Njiru applies finishing layers of mud to a pile of bricks.

“I can sell up to 3,000 of these per week,” said the 34-year-old, inspecting his work as he dried his muddy hands with a worn towel.

“Each brick goes for 8 Kenyan shillings ($0.08), so in a good week I can make up to 24,000 Kenyan shillings ($240.00),” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Njiru is one of an increasing number of Kenyans selling and buying earth bricks to build homes which are cooler, cheaper and more environmentally friendly than the more typical stone houses.

About 15 percent of new homes are now built with mud bricks, compared to less than 1 percent in 2010, according to Aidah Munano, a senior official at the Kenyan ministry of land, housing and urban development.

Unlike quarrying, which involves clearing trees to make room for excavations, mud bricks only require a bit of dirt and water, said Gitonga Murungi, a Kenyan conservationist.

“Demand for mud bricks is on the rise in rural Kenya because they cool homes during hot days and keep them warm at night,” he said.

They also cost about half as much as bricks made from stone quarrying, he added.

Njiru agrees. “People are giving up on building homes with quarry stones because they are expensive,” he said.

“And the government says that quarrying and sand harvesting damage the environment,” he added.

Having dropped out of high school due to a lack of funds, the former farmer now proudly pays for his children’s education.

“I used to barely get by when growing maize and beans,” he explained. “But now I make a lot more by selling mud bricks to residents and property developers in the area.”

Rising Heat

Extreme heat across the country is a threat to many Kenyans as “their crops and livestock waste away due to a lack of water,” according to Ayub Shaka, deputy director at the Meteorological Department.

Rising temperatures made Milka Njeri, a sorghum farmer from nearby Kanyuambora village consider brick-making as a way of making extra money.

Njeri said some days are so hot she has to stay indoors and can only start work in her fields as the sun sets.

Like Njiru she has started molding bricks at home using mud from a nearby bog to compensate for the lost income from farming — while sheltering from the heat.

“It is not much but I can make an extra 2,000 Kenyan shillings ($20) a week by selling bricks at construction sites,” she said.

Protecting the Environment

Brick makers should ensure their work does not end up damaging the environment as well, said Violet Matiru, a conservationist at the Millennium Community Development Initiatives, a local charity that raises awareness of environmental issues.

“We need to be careful that brick-making doesn’t use up all the soil in bogs because it stores excess water during floods and helps limit their impact,” she explained.

James Nyang’aya, a researcher at the University of Nairobi, thinks that while mud-brick homes can help communities adapt to rising heat, they are not the only solution.

“People should not just change their homes, but (also) their way of life,” he said.

Wearing light clothes and planting trees around homes to provide shade can also help cope with extreme temperatures, he said.

“You can even build your home’s doors and windows according to the wind direction to create your own air conditioning,” he added.

($1 = 100.0000 Kenyan shillings)
…

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