NEW YORK (Reuters) – journalists have been disabled in popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa in more than 500 attacks, some of them fatal, according to a media rights watchdog.
Mohamed Abdel Dayem, program coordinator, on behalf of the Committee to protect journalists in the Middle East and North Africa, said the number of attacks on media in the Middle East and North Africa since the beginning of the year was "unprecedented."
"This has not happened before, not with this intensity and not with this frequency," he said attack.
Dayem said 14 journalists were killed worldwide so far this year with 10 of these deaths in the Middle East and North Africa. Hundreds of other attacks on media in the region included detentions, the destruction of equipment, and death threats.
While the Committee to protect journalists said the freedom of the press has been improved in Egypt and Tunisia since protesters ousted the Presidents of both countries this year, described the situation as only graduating from "terrible to bad."
Access to social networking tools such as Twitter and Facebook will contribute to thwart traditionally tight censorship in the region, experts say, even though it is uncertain whether the unrest in Bahrain, Syria, Yemen, Libya and Saudi Arabia will lead to more democracy.
' It is not possible to fill a sock, many mouths,» said Dayem. "There used to be the number of the mouth was limited and (Governments) could close them all up all the time. This model is no longer tenable. "
Joe Stork, Human Rights Watch Deputy Director for the Northern Africa division, said the uprising had led to a "net gain" for media freedom in the region.
"It is possible to disseminate information from places like Bahrain or Syria in a way that was not possible for 10 years ago. It is just day and night comparison, "said Stork.
"On balance, there is definitely a freer exchange of information, but not because Governments allow it--because they have not had a special, how to control it," he said.
CENSORSHIP IS LESS EFFECTIVE
Limits on the media will be much more difficult to maintain, partly because of greater access to mobile phones and the Internet, said Elliott Abrams, senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Affairs think tank.
"It is also because the ' Arab Court ' has the-legitimized censorship even more, just as they have the stolen elections-legitimized and steal public funds," said Abrams.
' Many Governments will continue to try to intimidate journalists physically or through false prosecution ... but it is becoming less and less effective, ' he says.
But Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said that while some protesters demanding more freedom for journalists, it was too early to say what kind of progress could be made.
"We have seen the emergence of blogger, a citizen journalist ... break through," he said.
Stork said while Egypt seemed to go in a positive direction, freedom of the media had been a break when the country's ruling military Council demanded last month that coverage of Egyptian newspapers had to be approved by the military intelligence Directorate and moral matters.
"The military, of course, not like criticism or critical discussion and they have imposed on the media not to engage in it, and certainly the major outlets are complied with," said Stork.
Dayem warned, if there was no change in Government in some countries, it could lead to tougher media treatment, having an unsuccessful popular uprising in Iran in 2009.
"That certainly has not resulted in a freer media," he said. "In fact, it has resulted in a harsher climate for media in Iran and it has led to almost directly in Iran will be the world's worst jailer of journalists in 2010.
(Editing by Mark Egan and Vicki Allen)
-ET, it was the first President of the King, as he arrived home last month medical treatment abroad, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is warning that the threats to the nation's security and stability will not be tolerated.