BBC correspondent Kate Adie has warned against “siren voices” that will try to control or curtail coverage of the war in Iraq.
Adie, speaking at the Newspaper Society Awards in Birmingham on Monday, said she was a passionate believer in freedom of information and the public’s right to know.
But she claimed there would be efforts to censor war coverage. “There are people who do that, particularly at times of conflict, danger and fear. There are always siren voices saying ‘We should control this,'” Adie said.
“The word censorship is not used overtly but people will come in and say ‘We’d rather you didn’t use this.’ We in the press have to ask what lies behind these words and what it has got to do with freedom of information in a democracy. We have to ask these questions rigorously – particularly at difficult times.”
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