Freedom of the press has never been under assault as it is today, warned Peter Greste, the al-Jazerra journalist who was freed from an Egyptian prison after 400 days, during his speech at the National Press Club of Australia on March 26.

He said governments are using the "war on terror" mantra as a tool to crack down on the media, likening the onslaught to "globalized McCarthyism."

“Since the war on terror, governments have used the T-word as an excuse for all sorts of attacks on human rights and press freedoms,” said Greste, according to a report in The Australian.

“That fact is troubling because it seems to confirm that the atrociously named war on terror is itself a part of the problem.”

He believes the ill-defined war of terror "means everything and nothing. What it has done is make the media the battleground.”

Two-thirds of the 220 journalists in prison are there on terror or subversion charges.

Greste, who was released Feb. 1, said journalists who merely question actions by governments became targets.
"We're not meant to be friends of the government or friends of politicians. We're meant to hold them accountable."

The journalist called for a universal media freedom charter, a gold standard to define the relationship between media and governments.

He cited studies that show only 14 percent of the world's population enjoys a free press.

With two colleagues, Greste was convicted for aiding the Muslim Brotherhood and spreading "false news" about civil war conditions in Egypt.

He received a seven-year sentence and was released/deported under a presidential decree.