By Jason Glynn

Well it’s almost break time, are you all ready? I know I am. This semester has been screaming by, and for me things are only going to get busier. I know one thing though; I am looking forward to the Beacon’s coverage of Maine’s gubernatorial race! There are some exciting things going on behind the curtain and I can’t wait to share more with you!

A few columns back I announced our support and adoption of Reporters Without Borders, and there have been some recent events in the news that make this an even more relevant issue. If you turn on the news you will see reports of various crackdowns on journalists across the globe.

One of the most information-repressing countries, Iran, has recently made news again. The pro-reformist Aseman, or Sky newspaper, was recently shut down and its Managing Editor has been imprisoned for allegedly insulting Islam. The offending article merely questioned the inhumanness of Iran’s penal code, based largely on the principle of ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’

In Venezuela, USA-based Cable News Network, or CNN, had their press credentials revoked over their coverage of the growing anti-government protests happening there. Venezuela’s President, Nicholas Maduro, criticized their coverage and blasted them for inciting violence. However, a day after revoking credentials and saying they had to “get out,” he let them stay. CNN reporters covering the protests also had their television equipment stolen at gunpoint last week. President Maduro also shuttered the main opposition newspaper and arrested the opposition party’s leader, Leopoldo Lopez.

The host of this year’s Winter Olympics, Russia, has also been heavy handed on censorship lately. They are now attempting to close Dozhd TV, Rain TV in Russian, one of the last independent channels left. Most media outlets are now directly controlled by the Kremlin. According to the New York based Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ), at least 16 investigative reporters have been murdered in the last decade and 13 of those cases have never been solved.

Egypt, a country that has seen years of recent turmoil, has stepped up its media crackdown lately. During the short-lived presidency of Muslim Brotherhood leader, Muhammad Morsi, the crackdown targeted anti-Brotherhood supporters, but since after the military coup that removed President Morsi the Brotherhood has found their media outlets as the targets. The CPJ rates Egypt as the 3^rd worst place for journalists, right behind Syria and Iraq. Three Al-Jazeera journalists, an Australian and two Egyptians, are now on trial in Egypt for allegedly being involved with terrorists and disseminating false information. There are a total of twenty journalists charged in the massive case.

Meanwhile in America, the organization we adopted, Reporters Without Borders, dropped us a few notches on their annual Freedom Index. This index uses a variety of markers to rank countries according to press freedoms. We dropped a total of 13 slots, to 46^th out of 180 countries listed; our drop is largely associated with our crackdown on whistleblowers. Leading the pack on the index was Finland and Norway, with Eritrea and North Korea bringing up the rear. Also equally disconcerting was the recent proposed study by our FCC that would have let government researchers into newsrooms so they could quiz staff on how they decide what stories to cover.

As all of these events show our freedom of speech is always under pressure and needs defenders. We support press freedom worldwide and groups that fight to ensure it by exploiting countries that try to squander it. We are the people, and we will be heard!