JOURNALIST DENIED PRESS ACCREDITATION AFTER WRITING ARTICLE THAT “DISPLEASED” ORGANIZERS

Unique concept of the right to an opinion and the freedom of the press by the organizers of the Reggio Emilia chess tournament

 

On the occasion of the recent international chess tournament in Reggio Emilia (New Year’s Tournament), I was assigned by the Dutch magazine New in Chess (NIC) to write a report on the event, as was the case last year.

I thereafter sent an e-mail to the technical director of the tournament, Roberto Mogranzini, to inform him of my assignment.

His answer deserves to be fully transcribed to avoid any misunderstandings:

 

“Dear Janis

The organization of Reggio Emilia was not pleased with your article on the Reggio Emilia tournament which came out in NIC last year, nor with your comments posted on the blog Scacchierando.  As a result you will not be

issued press accreditation.

New In Chess will be advised of this decision.

Regards, Roberto Mogranzini”

 

The text of this communication does not deserve any comment.

 

It taught me, however, that the Reggio Emilia organizers (namely: Circolo Scacchistico Ippogrifo, Accademia Internazionale di Scacchi and Scacchi Randagi) granted press accreditation only if the reporters expressed  themselves according to the wishes of the organizers and not because they could do their work freely according to their conscience and intelligence.

 

This as a rather unique concept of freedom of opinion and indirectly of the press, to put it mildly. Without freedom of expression, reporting becomes meaningless.

 

I believe that my article, published in New in Chess 1/2011, is a balanced account of last year’s event, which put the Italian chess scene in a very good light, together with the revival of the Reggio Emilia tournament from the Jubilee Year edition onwards. The proof of the pudding is in the… reading.

 

It would be interesting to know what the relevant bodies (such as the Italian, European and World Chess Federations) think about the incident hereby reported, which is not much about me as an individual, as it is about a breach of principles that belong to the cultural heritage, legal system and shared values of a democratic society.

Janis Nisii

January 2012

(janis.nisii@gmail.com)

 

Please note:    This communication is sent to the media, relevant bodies, chess personalities both national and international, and can be freely reproduced.