A new survey dubbed Attacks on the Press, has revealed that Global and regional institutions with a responsibility to guard press freedom are largely failing to fulfill their mandate

A new survey dubbed Attacks on the Press, has revealed that Global and regional institutions with a responsibility to guard press freedom are largely failing to fulfill their mandate as journalists worldwide continue to face threats, imprisonment, intimidation, and killings.

This is according to a 2010 survey released by the Committee to Protect Journalists (cpj) and availed to radio phoenix today.

The survey shows that in Africa: A rise in investigative journalism has led governments in the region to crack down on journalists, particularly those reporting on the provision of basic services and the use of public money.

The survey further shows that From Cameroon to South Africa, authorities are moving aggressively to unmask confidential news sources, criminalize possession of government documents, and retaliate against probing journalists—all while governments across the continent, under pressure from donor countries, are pledging more transparency and accountability.

And CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon explained that While international law guarantees the right to free expression, journalists cannot count on a robust defense of those rights citing that recent unprecedented repression and persecution of journalists in Egypt.

He said the situation in Egypt provides an important opportunity for global and regional institutions to speak and act forcefully in defense of a free press.

Attacks on the Press is the world's most comprehensive guide to international press freedom, with thorough analyses of the key factors that obstruct a free press by CPJ’s regional experts.

It includes a special feature on the invisible nature of online attacks meant to curb journalists, including online surveillance, malicious software, and the elimination of news sites from the Internet.

CPJ found that a halfhearted, inconsistent approach to defending press freedom plagues institutions like the United Nations, the African Union, the Organization of American States, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, among others.

Simon added that while valiant special rapporteurs at various institutions battle anti-media violence, their efforts are stymied by a halting political will to guarantee press freedom.

With a preface by Al-Jazeera English anchor Riz Khan, the book provides an overview of media conditions in more than 100 countries along with data on journalists killed (44) and imprisoned (145) in 2010. 

And in the Middle East and North Africa the survey has revealed that throughout the region, governments are conflating critical coverage of counterterrorism with terrorism itself, claiming national security grounds to suppress news and views considered unfavorable.

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