Press Freedom
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Reporter Without Borders
OPC Applauds Obama for Signing Daniel Pearl Media Act
The Honorable Mr. Barack Obama
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500
Mr. President:
The Freedom of the Press Committee of the Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) applauds the Daniel Pearl Act on Freedom of the Media which you signed yesterday, authorizing the Department of State to compile a public list of all nations and states violating that freedom.
For more than seventy years, the OPC has objected to government abuses of press freedom through letters to leaders, appropriate cabinet officers, and chiefs of police. In recent years, we have received increasing numbers of responses, indicating that political leaders are aware of how quickly such actions damage their country’s global image.
Such a public gesture as your signature to the Daniel Pearl Act, making it a law, lends increased authority to our efforts and those of fellow organizations to aid our colleagues in distress, in prison or otherwise. Archives of our press freedom letters on our website (www.opcofamerica.org) attest to our efforts and results.
Our good wishes to you, Mr. President. Again, we are grateful for your efforts, which aid our cause.
Respectfully yours,
Jacqueline Albert Simon
Larry Martz
Freedom of the Press Committee