"Th newspaper does ivrything f'r us. It runs th' polis foorce an' th' banks, commands th' milishy, controls th' ligislachure, baptizes th' young, marries th' foolish, comforts th' afflicted, afflicts th' comfortable, buries th' dead an' roasts thim aftherward". - Mr. Dooley ( Finley Peter Dunne), 1902
On World Press Freedom Day the map of press freedom prepared by Reporters Without Borders is bleak with a darkening tide of censorship across the globe. Despite having a First Amendment to the Constitution that protects free speech and freedom of the press the United States today has 44 countries ahead of it with greater press freedoms. This confirms the observation of the late conservative polemicist Joseph Sobran, who passed away in 2010 that “the U.S. Constitution poses no serious threat to our form of government.”
It gives me no comfort to be able to say, but hey Cuba, our next door
neighbor, is at 172 much less
free then the United States. As a citizen and a patriot this is one list that if
not number one, the U.S. should strive to be in the top ten. It
has not been there for some time. The ten most censored countries
in the world according to the Committee to Protect Journalists are also
terrible places to live not only for journalists but everyday people.
A free press is a benchmark of a free society that needs to be
celebrated and defended from both external and internal threats to its
good works. Since it is a free institution, it must be self-policing and
only answer to its customers on the basis of the quality of the
journalism.
The eight countries with the
greatest press freedom, according to Reporters Without Borders, in
contrast do not have refugee exodus crises.
Today is a day to honor courageous and professional journalists who take their work seriously, but are willing to poke fun at themselves as Finley Peter Dunne did 115 years ago. It is an ironic tribute that his skewering of the self-important news media has been edited down and turned into a challenge to some journalists to "comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable." On this day let us comfort journalists afflicted for practicing their trade in closed societies.
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| Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca and Sulmira Martínez Pérez jailed in Cuba |
Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca was sentenced to five years in prison on July 28, 2022 for “enemy propaganda and resistance,” and he has been jailed since June 5, 2021. The Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement condemning the so-called "legal proceeding":
“Cuban authorities have already unjustly held journalist Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca behind bars for more than a year; now he faces years more in prison simply for sharing information,” said CPJ’s Latin America and the Caribbean program coordinator, Natalie Southwick. “Valle’s sentencing is a clear sign that the Cuban government is back to its old playbook, using the extreme measure of jailing journalists to maintain its censorship regime.”
Sulmira Martínez Pérez, a 21-year-old Cuban black woman, was detained on January 10, 2023 by State Security for sharing memes on her Facebook page in which she expressed her intentions to organize a nonviolent demonstration in Cuba, reported Melissa Martin, Ph.D. in her April 5, 2023 Op-Ed, "U.S. Demands Release of Cuban Sulmira Martínez Pérez Unlawfully Jailed by State Security – Let Her Go" in The Published Reporter. On March 17, 2023 Sulmira was transferred to Guatao prison in Havana, reported journalist Mónica Baró who cited the 21-year-old’s mother, Norma Perez. Nearing the three month mark of her arrest, she remains in custody. According to her mom, the charges against Sulmira have changed from “propaganda against the constitutional order” to “instigating a crime,” a more serious charge applied to many July 11, 2021 protestors.
These are two more reasons why Cuba should be removed from the UN Human Rights Council, and why you should sign the petition to make it happen.
Please also spread the word and demand their freedom.
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