Monitoring press freedom and international affairs from Mid-Missouri Public Radio and the Missouri School of Journalism

Ghana, Egypt face assaults on press

7 March 2019
Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zied, known by his nickname Shawkan, greets photographers in a soundproof glass cage inside a makeshift courtroom in Tora prison in Cairo, Egypt, July 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

On the surface, Ghana and Egypt couldn't be more different places when it comes free expression. Ghana ranks higher than the U.S. and U.K. by some measures of press freedom, while Egypt's government is now among the most repressive in the world. 

Yet Ghana's reputation for tolerance and press freedom has been challenged by the recent killing of Ahmed Hussein-Suale, an investigative journalist who worked on a high-profile probe of corruption in professional soccer. Meanwhile, in Egypt journalists are facing renewed persecution by a government that brands dissenters as terrorists and leads the world in prosecuting reporters and bloggers for "fake news." 

On this edition of Global Journalist, a look at challenges to press freedom in Ghana and Egypt. 

Joining the program:

  • Peter Greste, a former al-Jazeera correspondent jailed in Egypt for 400 days
  • Sherif Mansour, Middle East program coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists
  • Joel Gunter, reporter, BBC News
  • Assane Diagne, West Africa office director, Reporters Without Borders

Assistant producers: Gaëlle Fournier, Connor O'Halloran, Megan Smaltz, Samantha Waigand

Supervising producer: Rosemary Belson

Visual editor: Grace Lett

Monitoring press freedom and international affairs from Mid-Missouri Public Radio and the Missouri School of Journalism.
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