Imprisoned journalists: a Turkish badge of dishonour

The truth. Does it exist? Sure it does. Universally irrefutable occur. For example today’s date, the value of pi [1], the 2010 AFL premiers (Go pies) [2]. In contrast, non-facts must be interpreted. For the past 200 years or more, that interpretation’s been done by the media. Specifically journalists. And whilst they haven’t done a perfect job, they’ve done okay. And clearly the more independence they’ve had, the more credible their output’s been. And vice versa. Interference by media bosses, and by governments more so, detracts from the media’s credibility. And thus utility. So then, which nation has the most imprisoned journalists? According to the International Press Institute, it’s Turkey [3]. With 57. (China and Iran tie for second, with a mere 34 each.) A surprise? Not really. For me, anyway. Traditionally a fairly liberal democracy, recently Turkey’s been islamising [4]. Because islamisation restricts freedoms, it’s no shock Turkey leads the world in jailed journalists. I hope, but I’m not optimistic, this badge of dishonour will be taken into account when the EU decides on Turkey’s membership application [5]. That application, and Turkey’s continued NATO membership [6], should weigh heavily on the minds of Turkey’s voters come the 11 June national election. I await its outcome. With interest.