Liberian officials accused of ‘muzzling’ reporters trying to draw worldwide attention to Ebola crisis after banning journalists from health clinics
Journalists in Liberia banned from reporting in Ebola treatment units
Government claims reporters and photos are violating victims’ privacy
Treatment staff are engaged in dispute with government over risk bonuses
Global aid agency Doctors Without Borders plans to request exemption
Concerns raised ‘panicked’ governments are muzzling reporters
United Nations quarantines 41 personnel following second staff infection
By Corey Charlton
DailyMailUK
11 October 2014
Liberia is banning journalists from Ebola clinics in defiance of media rights campaigners who have warned panicked African governments against ‘muzzling’ reporters.
A government spokesman made the announcement as he was questioned on a radio phone-in show about reporters being barred from covering a strike at a Monrovia Ebola treatment unit (ETU).
Journalists had been denied access to the treatment clinic to cover a nationwide ‘slow day’ of action by healthcare workers demanding risk bonuses for treating Ebola.
The announcement comes after soldiers prevented media in Guinea from investigating the murders in September of eight people – including three journalists – during an Ebola education visit.
And Sierra Leone, another country badly affected by the epidemic, is threatening draconian measures against journalists criticizing its Ebola response.
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