Reporters without Borders
| Reporters Sans Frontières | |
 |
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| Formation | 1985 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Robert Ménard, Rémy Loury, Jacques Molénat and Émilien Jubineau |
| Type | nonprofit organization, non-governmental organization with consultant status at the United Nations |
| Headquarters | Paris, France |
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Director General
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Christophe Deloire (since July 2012) |
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Key people
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Christian Mihr, CEO RWB Germany Rubina Möhring, President RWB Austria Thérèse Obrecht Hodler, President RWB Switzerland |
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Budget
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Income: €4.2 million (2011) Expense: €4.6 million (2011) |
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Staff
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Approximately 120 |
| Website | rsf.org |
Reporters Without Borders (RWB), or Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF), is an international non-profit, non-governmental organization that promotes and defends freedom of information and freedom of the press. The organization, with a head office in Paris, France, has consultant status at the United Nations.
Reporters Without Borders has two primary spheres of activity: one is focused on Internet censorship and the new media, and the other on providing material, financial and psychological assistance to journalists assigned to dangerous areas. Its missions are to:
Reporters Without Borders was founded in 1985 by Robert Ménard, Rémy Loury, Jacques Molénat and Émilien Jubineau, in Montpellier, France. Its head office is in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris. RWB also maintains offices in Berlin, Brussels, Geneva, Madrid, Rome, Stockholm, Tunis, Vienna, and Washington, D.C.
At first, the association worked to promote alternative journalism, but there were disagreements between the founders. Finally, only Ménard stayed and he changed the organization's direction towards promoting freedom of the press. Reporters Without Borders states that it draws its inspiration from Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, according to which everyone has "the right to freedom of opinion and expression" and also the right to "seek, receive and impart" information and ideas "regardless of frontiers".
Ménard was RWB's first Secretary General. Jean-François Julliard succeeded Ménard in 2008. Christophe Deloire succeeded Julliard in July 2012 when he became Director General.
Reporters Without Borders' primary means of direct action are appeals to government authorities through letters or petitions, as well as frequent press releases. Through its world-wide network of roughly 150 correspondents, RWB gathers information and conducts investigations of press freedom violations by region (Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, and the Americas) or topic. If necessary, it will send a team of its own to assess working conditions for journalists in a specific country. It releases annual reports on countries as well as the Press Freedom Index. It has launched advertising campaigns with the pro bono assistance of advertising firms to raise public awareness of threats to freedom of information and freedom of the press, to undermine the image of countries that it considers enemies of freedom of expression, and to discourage political support by the international community for governments that attack rather than protect freedom of information.
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Wikipedia