Publications

With nearly 60 major publications, the World Press Freedom Committee has dealt with a wide variety of press freedom issues. These books, monographs and similar material collectively constitute an important resource for those desiring further information.

The list of WPFC publications is set out here, with links to a number of the texts as indicated. In addition, many are available in original form by mail upon request.

WPFC Publications

At the Center of the Storm. 35 pages. Address by Joergen Ejboel, in the 19th Annual Andersen-Ottaway Lecture Series, April 11, 2007.
 

New Media: The Press Freedom Dimension/Challenges and Opportunities of New Media for Press Freedom. 92 pages. Edited by Barry James and Ronald Koven. This publication contains texts and summaries of the presentations made during a conference Feb. 15-16, 2007, in Paris at UNESCO headquarters, on "New Media: The Press Freedom Dimension." The conference, organized by WPFC and co-sponsored by WAN and UNESCO, involved more than 40 presenters and moderators as well as attendees from more than 50 countries. A statement prepared by the Coordinating Committee of Press Freedom Organizations on press freedom in new media was endorsed by acclamation and is included in this publication.

It's A Crime: How Insult Laws Stifle Press Freedom. 305 pages. Edited by Marilyn J. Greene, former executive director of WPFC. This report updates WPFC's comprehensive 2000 survey of insult laws and includes reports of laws invoked as well as progress toward reform or repeal of such laws during 2006, published April 2007.

Why Press Freedom is Disappearing in the Post-Communist World. 34 pages. Address by Henrikas Yushkiavitshus, in the 18th Annual Harold W. Andersen Lecture Series, Dec. 9, 2004.

Amicus Curiae Brief. against insult and criminal defamation laws. 30 pages. By Kevin Goldberg. This model brief provides useful arguments in legal form against these restrictions for adaptation and use in any country, April 2004 (available in both English and Spanish).

The Challenges of Covering China Today. 36 pages. Address by Robert L. Bernstein and Xu Wenli, in the 17th Annual Harold W. Andersen Lecture Series, Dec. 2, 2003.

 

Press Freedom on the Internet. Conference Summary. New York City, June 2003.

Press Freedom on the Internet. 39 pages. Working papers by Ronald Koven, Dana Bullen, Leonard Sussman, for conference on Internet press freedom, New York City, June 2003.

International Organizations and the Protection of Press Freedom. 42 pages. Address by Santiago A. Canton, Executive Secretary, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, in the 16th Annual Harold W. Andersen Lecture Series, Oct. 30, 2002.
 

Voices of Freedom: The Story of the WPFC. 252 pages. By Dana Bullen. A 25-year parallel history of threats to press freedom at intergovernmental organizations, and WPFC's responses in support of a free press, 2002.
 

Tariff on Truth -- Where the press isn't free, correspondents pay the price. 38 pages. Address by Louis D. Boccardi, President and Chief Executive Officer, the Associated Press, in the 15th Annual Harold W. Andersen Lecture Series, Oct. 30, 2001.
 

Press Freedom in Our Genes: A Human Need. 228 pages. By Leonard R. Sussman. This book traces the struggle for freedom of expression and of the press from the earliest communication efforts by cave artists to today’s cyberspace news transmission, 2001.

Hiding from the People. 17 pages. A concise explanation and argument for the elimination of restrictive insult laws around the world, 2000. (Also available in Russian - please contact WPFC office for a copy)

Escondiéndose del Pueblo. 17 páginas. Una explicación y argumento concisos de la eliminación de las restrictivas leyes de desacato de todo el mundo, 2000.

Up From the Ashes: Building Democracy and a Free Press in East Timor. 27 pages. Address by Jose Ramos-Horta, Nobel Laureate, Foreign Minister, East Timor, in the Harold W. Andersen Lecture Series, Nov. 1, 2000.

 

Manuel Pour Les Journalistes Africains. 202 pages. Edited by Ronald Koven. Basic handbook on news subjects in French for journalists of Francophone Africa, 2000.

Insult Laws: An Insult to Press Freedom. 274 pages. By Professor Ruth Walden, University of North Carolina. A global study of "insult" laws that shield officials from public scrutiny, both in states known for restricting news and in many Western democracies, 2000.
 

What a Free Press Means to Me. 173 pages. A collection of personal statements by journalists in many countries on why a free press is important and of individual struggles to preserve it, 2000.
 

New Code Words for Censorship: Modern Labels for Curbs on the Press. 138 pages. Essays by leading global journalists on 17 code words and phrases being used to mask new efforts to restrict the press, 2000. 2nd printing, 2002.
 

Press Freedom: At the Core of Equitable Development. 30 pages. Address by James D. Wolfensohn in the Harold W. Andersen Lecture Series, Nov. 8, 1999.
 

'Regardless of Frontiers:' Article 19 in a World of Sovereign States. 34 pages. Address by Kofi Annan, U.N. secretary-general, in the Harold W. Andersen Lecture Series, Oct. 16, 1998.
 

Handbook for Journalists of Central and Eastern Europe. 2nd printing in Russian to meet continuing requests. 10,000 copies, Sept. 1998.

Everyone Has the Right. 80 pages. Essays on the enduring importance of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, on its 50th anniversary, 1998.

Handbook for Journalists. 160 pages. 3rd printing in English of Handbook for Journalists of Central and Eastern Europe, retitled for broader distribution, 1998.

PERVERSE RESULT: How the European Convention on Human Rights supports global restrictions on press freedom. 85 pages. By Dana Bullen and Rosalind Stark. Collected cases and commentary, 1997.

Fighting for Press Freedom in Serbia. 38 pages. Address by Sasa Mirkovic, Radio B92, Belgrade, in the Harold W. Andersen Lecture Series, Dec. 4, 1997.

Desacato Laws: Insult to Press Freedom. 16 pages. Speech by Leonard H. Marks before the Inter American Press Association, Panama City, Panama, March 18, 1997.

Cyberspace and a Free Press. 38 pages. Address by Alejandro Junco de la Vega, president and publisher, Reforma and El Norte, Mexico, in the Harold W. Andersen Lecture Series, Dec. 3, 1996.

Insult Laws: An Insult to Press Freedom. 15 pages. Speech by James H. Ottaway, Jr. and Leonard H. Marks for Commonwealth Press Union, Cape Town, South Africa, 1996.

The WPFC Story. Newsletters of the World Press Freedom Committee, 1976-1996.

Handbook for African Journalists. 155 pages. Revised and updated 2d edition of this how-to manual for African journalists. Edited by Malcolm F. Mallette, 1996.

Charter for a Free Press. Large folio poster for 1996 World Press Freedom Day presenting, in newspaper format, texts of the Charter in seven major languages, Spring 1996.

Rights, Royals and Regulation: The British Experience. 43 pages. Address by Lord McGregor of Durris in the Harold W. Andersen Lecture Series, Dec. 5, 1995.

The New UNESCO: A Partner for Press Freedom. Address by Leonard H. Marks at 28th UNESCO General Conference in Paris, Nov. 3, 1995.

World Press Freedom Day. Collection of articles newspaper based on WPFC materials, carried around the world on World Press Freedom Day, Spring 1995.

Endangered Species: Press Freedom in Hong Kong. 42 pages. Address by Daisy Li Yuet-wah, vice chairman, Hong Kong Journalists Association, in the Harold W. Andersen Lecture Series, Nov. 14, 1994.

Handbook for Journalists of Central and Eastern Europe. Second Czech edition of WPFC publication covering all phases of journalism fundamentals, 1994.

The Market Economy and the Media. 40 pages. Report on WPFC conference of global publishers in Hong Kong on prospects for press freedom there, 1994.

South Africa's Transition: Testing the Pieties. 40 pages. Address by Richard Steyn, editor-in-chief, The Star, Johannesburg, in the Harold W. Andersen Lecture Series, Dec. 7, 1993.

Voices of Freedom. 38 pages. By Henry Grunwald, Lord McGregor of Durris, Katharine Graham and Leonard H. Marks. Leading texts on the nature and importance of a free press, 1993.

UNESCO and a Free Press. 34 pages. Address by Director-General Federico Mayor in the Harold W. Andersen Lecture Series, Dec. 9, 1992.

A Charter for a Free Press. 32 pages. Report of briefing conference on the Charter for CSCE delegates in Helsinki, Finland, and statements before CSCE plenary session there, May 12-13, 1992.

Charter for a Free Press. Concise guiding principles for press freedom, 1992. Also published in French, German, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Arabic.

Manual del Periodista. 127 pages. By Jose Luis Macaggi. Published jointly by Centro Tecnico de la Sociedad Interamericana de Prensa and WPFC. Manual for Latin American journalists, 1991.

The Role of a Free Press In a Democracy. 31 pages. Report of CSCE parallel action East-West Round Table chaired by WPFC in Moscow, Sept. 23-24, 1991.

Putsch, Perestroika, and the Press: Recipes for Change. 28 pages. Address by Vitaly Korotich, former editor of the Soviet weekly Ogonyok, in the Harold W. Andersen Lecture Series, Nov. 21, 1991.

The Impact of Media on Political Change: A Chinese Perspective. 24 pages. Address by Binyan Liu, exiled Chinese journalist, in the Harold W. Andersen Lecture Series, Nov. 29, 1990.

Voices of Freedom '90. 38 pages. Report summarizing proceedings of a coordination conference of 80 organizations on news media aid projects in Central and Eastern Europe, called by the World Press Freedom Committee, Washington, DC, Oct. 10, 1990.

Handbook for Journalists of Central and Eastern Europe. 160 pages. Edited by Malcolm F. Mallette, director of projects for the World Press Freedom Committee. This publication covers all phases of journalism fundamentals, 1990. (Also published in Polish, Czech, Romanian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Albanian, Russian, Belarusian, Serbo-Croatian, Arabic, Spanish, Georgian, Armenian, Kurdish and Urdu.)

Needs of News Media in Central and Eastern Europe. 75 pages. By Ronald Koven, European representative of the World Press Freedom Committee. This report details the situation and needs of news media in East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Romania, 1990.

Poland, Solidarity, and the Press: The Difficulties of Returning From The Moon. 28 pages. Address by Stefan Bratkowski, president of the Polish Journalists Association, in the Harold W. Andersen Lecture Series, Dec. 6, 1989.

 

Britain's Free Press: Does It Have One? 37 pages. Address by Andrew F. Neil, editor of The Sunday Times, London, in the Harold W. Andersen Lecture Series, Nov. 29, 1988.

The Global Assault on Press Freedom. 36 pages. Testimony by four news media organizations before the U.N. Commission of Human Rights in Geneva, 1988.

Media Developments in the Soviet Union. 17 pages. Address by Nicholas Daniloff of U.S. News & World Report inaugurating the Harold W. Andersen Lecture Series, Nov. 30, 1987.

Report of World Press Freedom Committee Delegation to Hong Kong and Singapore. 1987.

Challenging the Censors: The Declaration of London. Declaration approved by reporters, editors, publishers and broadcasters participating in Voices of Freedom '87 opposing censorship, self-censorship and other restrictions on journalists and news media.

Censorship: What Is It? Where Is It? Working paper for Voices of Freedom '87 world conference on censorship problems, London, Jan. 16-18, 1987.

The New World Information and Communication Order -- 10 Years Later. Address by Leonard H. Marks at a conference organized by Comision Empresaria de Medios de Comunicacion Independientes (CEMCI) on Aug. 25, 1986, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Licensing of Journalists Violates Human Rights. Unanimous opinion of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in 1985 against compulsory licensing of journalists.

Handbook for African Journalists. 121 pages. Coordinated by Callix Udofia. How-to articles by 15 leaders in African journalism, 1987. 2d printing in 1988.
 

Killed, Wounded, Jailed, Expelled. Incidents involving journalists during 1984.

The "Watchdog" Role of the News Media: What it is. How it Works. Working papers for Voices of Freedom '83 conference in Talloires, France.

Handbook for Caribbean Journalists. 147 pages. Edited by Gloria Biggs. A cooperative project of WPFC and the Caribbean Publishing and Broadcasting Association. Articles on practical news gathering subjects by 19 Caribbean journalists for journalism classes and training programs, 1983.

The Media Crisis: A Continuing Challenge. 153 pages. Edited by Dana Bullen. Essays on the broad issues of news media freedom, or the lack thereof, around the globe, 1982.

The Declaration of Talloires. Text of Declaration adopted by leaders of independent news organizations from 21 nations at the Voices of Freedom conference in Talloires, France, May 15-17, 1981. A statement of principles to which free news media subscribe.

Voices of Freedom. 74 pages. Working papers by Leonard R. Sussman, Rosemary Righter, Oliver F. Clarke and William G. Harley for the world conference of independent news media, Talloires, France, 1981.

The Media Crisis. 113 pages. Edited by George Beebe. Documents and essays on the problems faced in UNESCO, the MacBride Commission report, a new world information order and the challenges of Belgrade, 1980.