Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom - World Press ...

Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom
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model we hope to apply in Beijing. It will not be an easy time to arrange to select a group
of Chinese lawyers This is undoubtedly a politically sensitive matter and government
approval may be needed. These lawyers will encounter unquestionably more than the
usual amount of harassment and intimidation.
I said that eight journalists were arrested four years ago in New York, out of 2,000
journalists who visited. If you extrapolate that for 30,000 journalists in Beijing over two
weeks, that means 240 journalists could be arrested there.
Agnès Gaudu
I can imagine that foreign journalists going to Beijing might get into trouble, but that is
not what I am afraid of or the most concerned with. It is more appropriate to ask about
funding lawyers for Chinese journalists, who are in very much bigger danger. I ask the
editors here and all the organizations here concerned with press freedom and freedom of
expression, are you actually organizing some kind of solidarity with Chinese colleagues?
Jocelyn Ford
Of course, foreign correspondents are most concerned about our sources, and I don't
know if there is any possible legal representation that could be provided if journalists were
to find that sources were detained after speaking to them. As for foreign correspondents,
if we are detained, they will release us. We are not in that great danger, and it is unusual
that we would need a lawyer on the spot. You try to talk your way out of the situation.
You call the ministry, you call your embassy.
Jean-Philippe Béja
As resources usually are limited I think we should concentrate on what is useful. The
worst that can happen to a foreign journalist is to be expelled from the country. You never
see a foreign journalist being arrested and charged. The only ones who can be are foreign
journalists of Chinese descent. What I think is, if you have means, if you have resources,
you should lecture journalists about the use of sources and about how you can endanger
people when you interview them, sometimes before a camera. I think this is the most
important thing. You won't need lawyers for foreign journalists, you will need lawyers for
people who might get into trouble because they gave information, because they gave an
interview to a foreign journalist. And also for the fixers, because as we know, the 30,000
journalists when they get to China will need to have helpers. They will hire Chinese
people, students or whatever, and maybe these students won’t be aware of the risks they
take. What I think you should do as organizations for press freedom is to educate foreign
journalists. This I think is basic and much more important.
Sharon Hom
I think it’s the Chinese domestic journalists who are going to be at the greatest risk. Most
of the correspondents will be able to handle themselves. One thing we should point out is
that with the new identification system at the border everyone will have biometric face
recognition data stored on a central server. In addition, more than 30,000 cameras have
been installed for biometric recognition in the subways, in the public spaces and in all the
Olympic venues. I think people need to be very aware of whether there is a camera when
they do interviews. We are trying to map where the cameras are, so we are going to be