62: The number of journalists murdered while working last year. 105: The number of countries that appealed a request for information related to the war on terror. 55: The number of countries that did not respond to the request for information in time and form; that is, they did not pass the transparency test. Argentina declined to respond all together, alleging national security concerns.

Worrisome data, related to the lack of access to public information, was the subject of discussion by fellows from around the world working in different fields of communications. Invited to participate by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, we are in Tunis at an event organized by UNESCO, IREX, the U.S. Department of State and the Open Society Foundations. Alongside me are Justin Arenstein of South Africa; Brenda Burrell of Zimbabwe; Joseph Warungu of Kenya; and Ayman Salah of Egypt.

In the morning after the opening session, Martha Mendoza, staff writer for the Associated Press, was blunt in her remarks: Only half the countries surveyed in a worldwide public information request passed the test.

The story, in numbers

In January 2010, more than 100 AP journalists presented information requests to 105 governments around the world. The journalists wanted information from each country on those individuals arrested or convicted of crimes related to terrorism during the last 10 years, as well as the nationality of these individuals.

14: The number of countries that responded in a satisfactory way.

3 of 10: The number of countries that completely ignored the request.

AP created an interactive map showing the wide dispersion of results, especially in Europe.

• Guatemala confirmed the AP’s request within 72 hours and sent all relevant documents within 10 days.

*Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Paraguay and Uruguay also responded to the request.

• India and Turkey answered in due time, sending complete information.

• Brazil, Nicaragua, Honduras and Venezuela did not respond. The same goes for Austria, Czech Republic, Greece, Iceland, Moldova, Slovakia and Slovenia.

• In the United States, AP had to send requests to six different divisions of the U.S. Department of Justice, including the National Security Division and the FBI. Reporters followed-up over the course of 18 telephone calls. At the end of the process, AP received 40 pieces of mail; only two enclosed spreadsheets contained useful information but still contained many blank fields.

• Canada requested a 200-day extension.

• Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Jamaica and Panama responded but not satisfactorily; they sent incomplete or irrelevant information.

• Argentina rejected the request for information, alleging national security concerns. Same goes for Bulgaria, Belgium, Congo, Denmark, Japan, Nepal, Madagascar and Tajikistan.

Argentina’s replies to the request (in the Cloud)

• Attachment 1

• Attachment 2

• Attachment 3

• All the responses, by country, in document form

The meeting in Tunis, in numbers

The theme of this year’s conference is “New Voices: Media Freedom Helping to Transform Societies.” More than 770 participants from 88 countries are present at this event. Today we closed with the presentation of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize to Azeri journalist and human rights defender Eynulla Fatullayev.

Starting tomorrow and finishing on Saturday night, more than 118 speakers from around the world will take part in the program, covering a variety of topics. On Sunday, the Knight Fellows, among others, will participate in computer safety and personal safety training sessions led by experts.

For more information on the event, visit:

• A crowd-sourced map that highlights World Press Freedom Day events around the world
• UNESCO'S World Press Freedom Day website.

Editors Note: This post is originally from La Nación's Data Blog.