LONDON, Dec. 20— The International Press Institute said today that press freedom continued to wither in 1984 as dozens of countries intimidated journalists with threats of expulsion, imprisonment and murder. In its annual report, the institute said governments
around the world further restricted free speech this year and many introduced laws to control or silence the press. ''Free speech is a dying right,'' wrote the institute's
director, Peter Galliner, in an introduction to the 18- page annual report, the World Press Freedom Review, compiled by the institute, which is based in
London and Zurich. The report, which covered 68 countries, said that
even nations with long- established traditions of
press freedom such as Britain and the United States
tried to restrict freedom of information and increase
official secrecy. Failures of the Press The report said the press itself shared the blame for
growing governmental interference because of its
failure to expose abuses of ''this most basic of
human rights.'' ''Today, journalism is looked upon by many as a
dirty word,'' Mr. Galliner wrote. ''Most newspapers
tend to sensationalize and trivialize. Many more
invade privacy to scoop up scandal and boost
circulation.'' ''In short, the press appears to be losing not only a
grip on its freedoms, but the trust of its readers,'' he
wrote. The institute, whose members include nearly 2,000
editors and publishers in 60 countries, said one of the most striking turnabouts in press freedom this year happened in Nigeria after the military coup Dec. 31, 1983. The rise to power of the new Nigerian leader, Maj.
Gen. Mohammed Buhari, ''severely restricted what was once the freest press in black Africa,'' the report said. Many journalists in Nigeria have been jailed under the Government's Decree 4, which calls for prison terms of up to two years for those found guilty of ''false publication.'' ''As such, any story that embarrasses the
Government is considered an offense and its
authors liable to imprisonment,'' the report said.
Hostile Literature Governments have imprisoned journalists they feel
have broken tough press-restriction laws such as
one on carrying ''literature hostile to the state'' in
the Sudan, or for criticizing the authorities in
Cameroon, Liberia and Haiti, the report said. The Uruguayan Government recently censored,
suspended or confiscated 28 of the country's daily
newspapers and magazines, as well as a radio and
television network, the report said. The institute says acts of repression against
journalists in Uruguay have assumed ''wholesale
proportions.'' The press remains under firm government control
in such countries as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Angola
and Bangladesh and in Eastern Europe, with stiff
censorship laws imposed in dozens of other
countries, particularly in the Third World. In Thailand, where at least 20 journalists were
believed to have been slain in 1983, at least two
have been reported killed in 1984. Two leading journalists were also shot dead in
Mexico, a country with a reputation for having ''a
varied and free media,'' the report said. Iran's Press
Policies In Iran, where more than 30 journalists were
executed by the fundamentalist Islamic
Government in 1982 and at least 200 were
imprisoned, about 100 reporters are still in exile,
although none have been formally charged or
tried, the report said. Iran's leaders ''continue to destroy any last vestige
of press freedom with greater vigor than anywhere
else in the region,'' the report said. Regarding the United States, the review said
''vigilance and determination'' by journalists
checked efforts of the Reagan Administration to
make significant changes in the Freedom of
Information Act. A bill rejected by Congress ''would have expanded
the exemption for investigatory records, allowed
the withholding of documents related to organized
crime and created a new exemption for technical
data,'' the report said.
www.nytimes.com/1984/12/21/world/press-freedom-withers-report-says.html

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