Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom - World Press ...
Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom - World Press ...
Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom - World Press ...
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<strong>Beijing</strong> <strong>Olympics</strong> <strong>2008</strong>: <strong>Winning</strong> <strong>Press</strong> <strong>Freedom</strong><br />
122<br />
Watson Meng<br />
Founder and Editor, Boxun News<br />
Boxun is the first (2000) and most popular Chinese on-line news site (boxun.com) based<br />
on citizen journalism. Meng's previous positions include commercial manager at Unilever,<br />
Zhangjiakou, China, and accountant and project manager at Motorola, Tianjin, China. He<br />
holds an MBA from Duke University, an MA in economics from Nankai University, China,<br />
and a BA in electronic engineering from Hebei Technology Institute, China. He has served<br />
as a technical consultant for Human Rights Watch’s Chinese web site and for Human<br />
Rights in China’s web project.<br />
Julien Pain<br />
Editorial Director, the “Observers” web site, France 24 TV<br />
The site directed by Pain (www.observers.france24.com) is dedicated to viewer-submitted<br />
materials, such as photos and amateur videos, subjected to professional editing. He<br />
worked at Reporters Sans Frontières 2003-2007 as head of its Internet <strong>Freedom</strong> Desk,<br />
devoted to monitoring and lobbying against Internet censorship and supporting cyberdissidents.<br />
He edited a widely translated Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents.<br />
Peter Scheer<br />
Executive Director, California First Amendment Coalition<br />
A lawyer and journalist, Peter Scheer has since mid-2004 headed the California First<br />
Amendment Coalition, a public interest group to advance free speech, open and<br />
accountable government, and public participation in civic affairs. Since its founding in<br />
1988, the coalition has worked against government censorship and excessive secrecy. The<br />
coalition organized legal defense of wikileaks.org, a whistle-blower web site silenced by a<br />
US Federal judge's order in early <strong>2008</strong>. The coalition has also initiated a challenge to<br />
Chinese Internet censorship, as a violation of its international treaty commitments under<br />
the <strong>World</strong> Trade Organization. The coalition is the lead plaintiff in a test case on public<br />
access to government data bases. Scheer has argued before the US Supreme Court. He<br />
was publisher of Legal Times, a Washington DC weekly on law and lobbying.<br />
Paul E. Steiger<br />
Editor-in-Chief, President, Pro Publica<br />
Created in January <strong>2008</strong>, Pro Publica is a non-profit, non-partisan group doing<br />
investigative journalism in the public interest. He was for 16 years Managing Editor of The<br />
Wall Street Journal. He was on the Pulitzer Prize Board 1998-2007 and its Chairman in his<br />
final year. Steiger is also the Chairman of the Committee to Protect Journalists and a<br />
trustee of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.<br />
Per Toien<br />
Chief of Information, Norwegian Olympic and Para-Olympic Committee<br />
& Sports Confederation<br />
He is a senior adviser on sports policy at the Confederation and has been a teacher,<br />
journalist and public relations advisor. He directed sports programs in Zambia and<br />
Zimbabwe. He was head coach of Norway’s basketball team.