Pawns in a dangerous game

By now you've probably heard that BBC correspondent Alan Johnston's kidnappers have videotaped him wearing an explosives vest. His captors have threatened to detonate it, if any attempt is made to rescue him. In a short video, Johnston's kidnappers - a Palestinian splinter group calling itself "Army of Islam" suggest recent negotiations with Hamas were making progress until Hamas threatened force to obtain Johnston's release. Johnston has been held for 105 days, allegedly by the Dogmush clan in Gaza.

All too often, journalists are pawns in a dangerous game. This weekend in Iraq, a female journalist, an activist and a teacher were shot dead. Were any of these murders widely reported? No. One is barely able to process one death before another occurs in such a violent, lawless place. Today an Iraqi television anchorman was among those killed in a bomb blast at a Baghdad hotel.

Freedom of Information Act still threatened in Britain

Meanwhile a Constitutional Affairs Select Committee is urging the British government to scrap its "unnecessary, unpopular and undesirable" reforms of the Freedom of Information Act. Under the proposed changes, an estimated 17,000 requests for information could be refused. This would mean that Members of Parliament, campaign groups and journalists would have to ration requests or risk their inquiries being rejected.

The Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, is said to be committed to FOI Act changes to "reduce the burden of administration on civil servants." But critics say the changes are a cynical ploy to undermine the media, as well as opposition MPs who use FOI legislation to help uncover information about the government. The Constitutional Affairs Select Committee concluded there is "no objective evidence that any change is necessary. There is clear evidence that the proposed amendments could be open to manipulation and abuse."

Comments

[JanePoe (aka Deborah)]

A very dangerous game that will produce no winners ... I hope and pray that Alan Johnston survives this horrible experience.

[Di Overton]

The Alan Johnston video as been playing all day on TV here in the UK and I am still stunned each time it appears on the screen.
As for our Freedom of Information fiasco - well what else can you expect? We have no difference in any of our parties anymore they aren't interested in politics just getting votes and each and every party would go along with this if they were in power. Gordon Brown even invited a Liberal into his government the other day - what was that about?

[Colette]

So -- the people who govern basically have no idea what to do, so they resort to stupidity. That's what all this says to me.

While there's life, there's hope, but the splinter group's reasoning is...twisted. As usual.

[Merisi's Vienna]

I am sure you have read the Washington Post articles (there was another one in yesterday's paper) about the US Vice President's interpretation of freedom of information:
Pushing the Envelope on Presidential Power
By Barton Gellman and Jo Becker
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cheney/chapters/pushing_the_envelope_on_presi/index.html