Anna Politkovskaya  By Christy Hammond

The Basics  Born in NYC (1958) to UN diplomats & Soviet Ukrainian parents  Grew up in bilingual environment  Graduated from the Moscow State University Department of Journalism in 1980  Citizen of U.S. and Russian Federation  Human rights activist  Russian journalist and author

Newspapers  Wrote for the Soviet newspaper Izvestiya for more than a decade  Wrote for Aeroflot’s company newspaper  Wrote for Obshchaya Gazeta  Wrote for Novaya Gazeta

Chechen Wars  1 st Chechen War:  “Stopping the first Chechen war was the Russian media's greatest achievement in the relatively free Yeltsin years” - Politkovskaya  2 nd Chechen War began in 1999  One of the only independent voices there  Has visited Chechnya over 50 times  Arrested on one of her trips

Negotiator  Moscow Theatre in 2002  Belson School Hostage Crisis in

Duty of the Journalist  "I am absolutely sure that risk is [a] usual part of my job; job of [a] Russian journalist, and I cannot stop because it's my duty. The duty of doctors is to give health to their patients, the duty of the singer to sing, and the duty of the journalist is to write what this journalist sees in reality."

Murdered at 48  October 7, 2006  Shot twice in head, once in shoulder  Killed in her apartment entrance  She had been working on an exposé on torture practices linked to a militia unit controlled by Chechnya's Putin- friendly prime minister, Ramzan Kadyrov

The Prosecution  Three Alleged Suspects:  Djabrail Makhmudov (accomplice / ethnic Chechen)  Ibragim Makhmudov (accomplice / ethnic Chechen)  Sergei Khadjikurbanov (arranged killing / former member of Moscow State Police Department)  Alleged Gunman: Rustam Makhmudov  Reporters Without Borders: “This case calls for the utmost vigilance, considering that only part of the case will go before the military court and only a tiny number of those implicated in the killings will be in the dock. This case is not closed. The investigation should continue until the arrest of the killer and the brains behind this killing which has stunned public opinion.”

Awards & Honors  2001: Prize of the Russian Union of Journalists  2001: Amnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism  2002: PEN American Center Freedom to Write Award  2002: International Women's Media Foundation Courage in Journalism Award  2003: Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage  2003: Hermann Kesten Medal  2004: Olof Palme Prize (shared with Lyudmila Alekseyeva and Sergei Kovalev)  2005: Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media  2006: International Journalism Award named after Tiziano Terzani  2007: UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize (awarded posthumously for the first time)  2007: National Press Club/John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Award (posthumous)  2007 Democracy Award to Spotlight Press Freedom by the National Endowment for Democracy

 “Like all great investigative reporters, Anna Politkovskaya brought forward human truths that rewrote the official story. We will continue to read her, and learn from her, for years.”  – PEN World Voices Festival Director Salman Rushdie

Africa: Sometimes in April

The Impact of the Internet on Press Freedom Blogging, Citizen Journalism, Internet News…

From zero to everywhere…sort of  Took 38 years for radio to amass 50 million users in the U.S.  Took 15 years for television to amass the same number of users  Took the Internet four years to get to 50 million users—just in the U.S.  Worldwide the Internet has 21 percent penetration  Africa’s penetration is at 5.3 percent; North America 73 percent

What does this mean for journalism?  Newspapers are losing 41 jobs a day  But Talking Points Memo is hiring  Shifts the control from a few to the many.  Media is no longer a lecture hall, but a multi- dimensional conversation between millions, if not billions of people.  But the Internet is also the proverbial “Tower of Babel”—everyone talking and no one listening.  An almost-overwhelming amount of information requires a new model for “curating” the news.

What does it mean for press freedom, globally and in the U.S?  The ‘Net was hailed as a great liberator when it first took hold, but as we’ve seen it can be controlled.  Turkey, Syria, China, Thailand, Saudi Arabia all censor the Internet  Google, Yahoo, AOL, and MSN, Huffington Post: How are they different from Sulzberger, Murdoch…they control the headlines you see on your home page…  Bloggers who once flew under the radar now face the same constraints as journalists  Burmese blogger sentenced to 20 years in prison for posting a cartoon of military leader Than Shwe

But are there good reasons to control the Internet?

Media & Sovereignty Reasons to control  Illegal or harmful content  In the U.S., pornographic, V-chip controls  In Europe, hate media is controlled—Danish Muhammed cartoon  In Africa, hate speech controlled  In China, national security, social control defined as reasons for control Reasons to control  Ireland found ten categories worth controlling—but what does this do to the open nature of the Internet, including:  National security  Damage to reputation  Gambling  Infringements on intellectual property

Media & Sovereignty Reasons to control  In Germany, controls on issues related to the Internet--Internet sites can’t sell Nazi related items  In Singapore, control anything that possibly disrupts social order or incites disaffection with the government

Media and Sovereignty  Can we really control the Internet, while remaining consistent with its ideals of openness?  Should we separate the words illegal and harmful from the debate over controlling the Internet?  Should the Internet self-regulate or be controlled by laws?  If access to information is a basic human right, then controlling the Internet denies that right, or not?

The problems and promise of the Internet U.S.  Tower of Babel  Only looking at the information that is relevant to “my” life  Internet may lead to a lack of civic engagement—instead of what we had hoped for.  Who do we believe? Fake news story about Sarah Palin. World  Censorship and control— when we thought it wouldn’t be possible  Blogging in countries where traditional journalism ethics still haven’t grown up.  Internet access still is a problem in many parts of the world, especially Africa

What’s the upside? U.S.  The Internet is the perfect medium for journalism—if we can figure out how we get paid.  New models of journalism will bring new energy to the industry  Traditional media informed—new media empowers World  Citizen journalism has brought us more information and news than ever before  A drive for modernity— including embracing the Internet—is driving countries to rethink their censorship policies.  Creation of journalism is far cheaper than ever before

The final questions Is access to information a basic human right? (particularly in a region where information can keep you safe and keep you alive)

Nov. 20 and 25 Nov. 20: Roy Sekoff, founding editor of The Huffington Post Nov. 25: Is access to information a basic human right? Bring a piece of “citizen journalism” to class for discussion. Can be from your country or anywhere else in the world… No more media journals due!