Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Journalists not welcome

ANOTHER FOREIGN JOURNALIST DEPORTED FROM U.S. In a comentary in today's Los Angeles Times, British journalist Elena Lappin describes how she was treated as a common criminal on May 3 when she tried to enter the U.S. in Los Angeles for a writing assignment. Lappin is one of at least a dozen journalists who have been detained and deported in the last year from Los Angeles because they did not have a "journalists' visa for entry into this country. Ironically, May 3 is "World Press Freedom Day." The American Society of Newspaper Editors has strongly criticized the actions taken by the Department of Homeland Security, and has called for changes in U.S. law requiring special journalist visas.


JOURNALIST DEATH TOLL IN IRAQ HITS 30 The death toll for journalists working in Iraq has reached 30 after two reporters were targeted and killed by gunmen, The Guardian reported last week.