Reporting under censorship

In a recent piece on the online independent newspaper The Tyee, Claude Adams argues for the hypocrisy of former Toronto Star publisher John Honderich's denunciation of press freedom in Rwanda, only after having left the country.

Adams reports that, while in Rwanda, Honderich was well aware of the censorship -- both self- and government-imposed -- routinely restricting journalists.

The bigger questions brought up in his piece concern all journalists.

"To what degree should the fear of offending a host government prompt volunteers to soft-pedal professional and ethical standards in the course of their work? When is it okay to bite your tongue for the "good of the project," and when do you stand on principle, even at the risk of being shut down?" Adams asks.

His questions spring from his experience in the Canadian Rwanda Initiative, which he worries isn't teaching aspiring reporters to stand up to Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

He goes on to relate how some of the Rwandan journalism students he met aimed to switch to PR or NGO work because of the frustrations of reporting in their country.

That sentiment isn't unheard of in my own school, but reading Adams' analysis of the plight of Rwandan media sure puts Canada's imperfections in perspective.