On World Press Freedom Day, journalists are facing an onslaught of repression in the form of new laws and intimidation, as autocrats crack down on independent media amid the Covid-19 crisis, writes Alan C. Miller for CNNOpinion
Alan C. Miller is the founder and CEO of the News Literacy Project, a national nonpartisan education nonprofit. He won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2003 as a reporter at the Los Angeles Times. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more opinion at CNN.
Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised by attacks on press freedoms and journalists around the world amid the Covid-19 pandemic. We've seen this pattern before: A crisis engulfs a nation, and its government moves to curtail, manipulate or shut down news coverage. But just because we've seen this pattern before doesn't mean that we should pay less attention to it now. In fact, now is a time to be especially vigilant.
Alan C. MillerIn Iran, the government has imposed sweeping restrictions on coverage of the pandemic, including a ban on printing newspapers. Journalists have been arrested for their reporting, including one who criticized the government's failure to prepare for the pandemic and another who alleged that a local official had tested positive for Covid-19, as the Committee to Protect Journalists has noted.
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