IAPA names free-speech prize winner
By The Associated Press,
freedomforum.org staff
11.07.01
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| Claudio Grossman |
The Inter American Press Association has named Claudio Grossman, president of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the winner of the Chapultepec Grand Prize 2002, the Associated Press reported today.
In other developments in the Latin American press this week: IAPA has responded to claims against the press by Mexico's president, and Venezuela's president is charging that mainstream newspapers are out to smear his government.
The IAPA award is given in recognition of an individual's work in promoting the protection of free speech, as listed in the Declaration of Chapultepec.
Grossman has served two terms as president of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States, which addresses complaints by victims of human rights violations in the Americas, and has worked for women's rights in various Central and South American countries.
Grossman is dean of the Washington College of Law at American University in Washington, D.C., and a member of the Permanent Council of the Inter-American Institute on Human Rights.
Also this week, Robert J. Cox, IAPA's president, responded to criticism of the news media by Mexican President Vicente Fox by noting that "bad news is not the fault of the press."
During his weekly radio address to the nation, Fox charged on Nov. 3 that in the press "there is a great deal of distortion in how the news is handled, there is a lot of libel, there is a lot of deception, there are a lot of lies."
He contended that the press had attacked him "with a whole load of nonsense" and warned that "they should not believe that they are going to overthrow me with criticism in the newspapers."
Cox, assistant editor of The Post and Courier, in Charleston, S.C., expressed surprise and disappointment at Fox's remarks, contending that "he is talking just like the old-style dictators."
"It is in difficult times, such as those we are currently going through in the United States and Mexico, when it is more important than ever that presidents show some balance and a sense of humor," Cox added. "They should also recognize that bad news is not the fault of the press and that criticism is very important for governments."
Cox said that "it is very difficult for governments to understand that they should listen to everyone and that the press is the medium of democracy."
Fox "has a right to criticize the press, the same right as anyone else; but if he knows there are lies he has to point them out to the public, not talk in general terms, because that leads nowhere," Cox said. He added that IAPA was still waiting for the Mexican government to fulfill its promise to investigate the cases of murdered journalists.
Meanwhile in Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez is complaining that the mainstream newspapers are conspiring to smear his government, the AP reported from Caracas. But, Chavez says, he has enlisted supporters who will defend his policies by publishing more positive reports.
Chavez said dozens of community newspapers across the country would report on the accomplishments he has made in attempting to rebuild Venezuela after decades of corrupt governments — efforts the left-leaning, populist leader calls his "revolution."
That is something the "big newspapers seldom do," said Chavez, adding that the community papers would criticize his government "objectively" — suggesting others are biased.
He also announced a big public relations push, saying at least 2,000 "popular spokesmen" would fan out across Venezuela to explain alleged inaccuracies in the mainstream media.
Chavez reacted angrily to an editorial in the Caracas daily El Nacional that called his latest trip abroad a failure.
"They have no shame. The don't have the slightest sense of nationalism," Chavez said of El Nacional's owners.
"El Nacional opposes the government. ... It's a counterrevolutionary medium," he said, waving a copy of the paper before a large audience of supporters in the capital.
In a recent report, IAPA says Chavez tries to intimidate the news media; the president says IAPA sides with Venezuela's opposition.
The Miami-based IAPA comprises more than 1,300 members representing newspapers and magazines throughout the western hemisphere.
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