From Africa to Latin America, from Russia to the United States, this DVD looks at how members of the news media fulfil their common mission.
· In Mexico: A broadcast journalist tests Mexico’s new-found democratic freedom by blasting open a culture of secrecy and corruption.
· In Israel: Journalists hold up a mirror to show their people and their government hard truths neither wants to know.
· In Russia: Journalists struggle to report the truth under a darkening cloud of fear, misinformation and increasing governmental control.
· In Nigeria and Sierra Leone: Journalists give birth to a free press after having survived prison and exile.
· In Afghanistan: A correspondent stretches to cover both the U.S./NATO military operation and the struggles ordinary Afghans go through every day.
· In the United States: American journalists struggle to get behind the curtain of “spin” woven by government officials and to expose some of the darker practices of the war on terror.
Throughout, the DVD provides vivid reminders of how valuable serious journalism is and how vigilantly it must be practiced to ensure the health of democracy. Viewers get a comparative look at the state of the press around the world and see that the walls of secrecy that stand in the way of press freedom can be toppled. DEMOCRACY ON DEADLINE sheds light on the pivotal role journalists must play around the globe.
