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David McDonald, World Press Institute (WPI) Executive Director, brought eight international journalists to Cook County from March 27 to March 30.
The first two days in Cook County were spent touring. Then, after visits to Grand Portage (pretty much everyone said the visit to the Witch Tree was their favorite stop), the Gunflint Trail, with stops at Trail Center and Golden Eagle Lodge, and North House Folk School, the Cook County Historical Society building, and stops around town, they were ready to meet the public at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts.
On stage were the following:
Ms. Petya Mihova, a reporter for the Bulgarian National Radio in Burgas.
Mariana Segulin is a reporter and anchor for T.N./ Canal 13 television in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Ms. Grace Tsoi is a senior journalist and editor for the BBC World Service in China (Hong Kong.)
Finland was represented by Ms. Paulina Grym, a radio journalist and host for the Finnish Public Broadcasting Company in Yle in Helsinki.
Mr. Meghdeep Bhattacharyya, India, with 16 years of experience, is an assistant editor of Politics & Policy for The Telegraph newspaper in Calcutta.
Mr. Kourosh Ziabari, Iran, is based in Rasht. He works as a freelance reporter and correspondent for Asia Times, Fair Observer and other online and print publications.
Mr. Kenneth Kipruto, Kenya, is an editor and writer for The Standard newspapers in Nairobi.
Hailing from Nigeria was Ms. Nelly Kalu, a freelance contributing writer and podcaster for NewsWire NGR, a digital platform in Lagos.
Moderating the evening event was Marja Erickson, the Cook County Historical Society president, the group that helped sponsor the three-day trip to Cook County for the journalists. Following introductions by the journalists questions came fast and furious from curious audience members. Unfortunately, some answers can’t be printed here for fear of causing harm to some newsmakers because of stringent censorship in their countries.
Introductions
After two years of broadcasting on television, Mr. Meghdeep Bhattacharyya said his mother told him, “You are too fat for T.V.” and recommended he transfer to print journalism, which he promptly did.
“She is my biggest critic, my biggest inspiration,” he shrugged his shoulders and smiled. His comment drew laughter from the approximately 50 folks in attendance at the World Press Institute (WPI) March 29 public forum held at the ACA.
When the laughter stopped, Mr. Bhattacharyya became serious as he explained the perils of working in media in India.
India, he said, was recently ranked 142nd on the 2021 World Press Freedom Index (WPFI). Journalists in his country are under attack. He added that he has been the target of severe threats and has been in real danger while working as the Assistant Editor of The Telegraph newspaper in Kolkata. He blamed the rise in censorship on the growth of far-right ultra-nationalism bolstered by fake news, which, he said, threatens to wipe out unbiased journalism in his country.
Ms. Pauliina Grym is a radio journalist and host of the Finnish Public Broadcasting Co. Yle in Helsinki, Finland. Her station reaches 96 percent of the Finnish population. Ms. Grym focuses on cultural and political issues as she hosts her live radio show. She also works with podcasts. She said she wants to learn more about what drives conservative and liberal themes in the U.S. She told the audience that minor factions of liberals and conservatives were driving a wedge in her country.
Ms. Grym said the freedom of the press is alive and well in Finland, but a small leftist, Marxist group, had been working overtime “trying to cancel my show.”
Finland was ranked 2nd on the 2020 World Free Press Index, trailing Norway.
Hailing from Iran was Mr. Kouroush Ziabari, reporter and correspondent for the Asian Times and other media outlets. Mr. Ziabari covers political, economic, and social developments for the Asia Times and other media outlets. Like Meghdeep, Mr. Ziabari must watch what he reports because, as he said, there once was a red line you didn’t cross, “but now the line has become a circle,” he noted. You may not get in trouble for a story; then again, you may be out of a job and arrested for a news account someone didn’t like, he added.
Iran, it must be noted, was ranked 174th out of 180 countries in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index.
Mr. Ziabari is careful but carries on in a field where many of his colleagues have quit. “I am realistic and pragmatic,” he said. “Iran has been here for 3,000 years, and 77 percent of the world can’t identify it on a map.” Westerners, he said, “Should be thankful for a free press.”
Ms. Nelly Kalu is a freelance contributing writer and podcaster for the NewsWire NGR digital platform in Lagos, Nigeria. She, too, admitted to never having seen snow before she visited Minnesota. She called herself a “renegade” journalist. She described being on-air, describing the Biafra genocide that had taken place 50 years before in her country, and being pulled from her chair and arrested during the broadcast. She said she was lucky only to pay a $1,000 fine. “My country wasn’t ready to hear it,” she said of a massacre that took place where every male in the families was killed.
Said Nelly, “If we have a liberal president, the media is liberal. If we have an autocratic president, the media is autocratic.” She said journalists have been killed in her country or have left the country after being intimidated but don’t look for her to go anywhere.
In 2021 Nigeria was ranked 120th in the WFPI.
A reporter and anchor for T.N./Canal 24 television in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ms. Mariana Segulin chronicles politics, protests, and crime and occasionally anchors the news for T.N./Canal 13 television. She talked about being born in Democracy and living in Democracy. “We have free speech, and the constitution says the press cannot be censored.” That said, she admitted, “I don’t think there is free speech as long as money is involved.” And she cited advertisers who can influence what is said or printed. She also added that Argentina, Russia and China were strategic partners, but still, President Alberto Fernandez’s refusal to directly blame Russia or Putin for the war in Ukraine was sad, adding, “Argentina can’t be for war.”
The 2021 WPFI for Argentina is 69th. The WPFI ranked the U.S. 44th.
A man who sees firsthand the disturbing effects of climate change is Mr. Shamsuddin Illius, the Bureau chief of the Business Standard newspaper in Chittagong, Bangladesh. He leads a team of nine reporters. In addition to covering the hundreds of folks who daily move inland from the rising seas that take away their houses and land, Mr. Illius reports on refugees and business. “Climate change is real,” he said emphatically.
A Bangladesh law passed in 2018 says that if a journalist prints or says something that isn’t correct, they can be put in prison for ten years. “Every morning, my main concern is to be careful, check and double-check the facts of a story,” he said, adding phones are bugged, including his office phones, and the government has shut down many newspapers.
“They (officials) come to my office and ask questions they know the answers to, they have everything, but they ask questions anyway,” about tapped phone conversations.
Mr. Illius also said his visit to Cook County introduced him to snow, something he had never seen before. Bangladesh ranked 152 in the 2021 WPFI.
Ms. Petya Mihova is a reporter and presenter on the Bulgarian National Radio. Her beat is crime and corruption. She sometimes hosts broadcasts for Bulgarian National Radio. She leads a small team of 8-9 reporters. Because Bulgaria is close to Ukraine, what is taking place in their neighboring country worries her people. She reports on politics, and illegal construction, saying builders want to take down old, historical buildings and replace them with new buildings.
As to having a free press, Bulgaria has a total score of 38 from the Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Index, and is ranked 112th globally out of 180 countries. It has the lowest “free press” ranking of a European country.
Ms. Grace Tsoi represents the country of China. Grace is a senior journalist and editor of BBC World Service in Hong Kong, working as a T.V. anchor and reporter. She focuses on cyber security, among myriad other topics. Her country’s censorship is legion, with China ranked 177th on the 2020 World Press Freedom Index, and she didn’t say much about it. Grace did say she was thrilled to be back in the U.S. for a third time and expected to learn a lot on this trip.
Cook County was the WPI’s first leg on a two-month trip across America that will end In the Twin Cities on May 21. Stops include New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. The print, T.V., radio, social media reporters, and editors hope to learn about American culture and politics. Then, when they return home, they will better understand the U.S. when they cover something happening here or abroad.
Since 1961, WPI has provided international journalists with the opportunity to investigate the U.S. traditions of a free press, its values, customs, cultures, regions, and people so they may report on the events that happen here with a broader background about how this country works. Over 62 years, WPI has had 600 alumni from 100 countries.
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