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Tunisian Journalists Tread With Caution

Freedom of the press is still more aspiration than reality in Tunisia two years after the fall of Ben Ali, writes Katharina Pfannkuch.

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A journalist covers protests against the governing Ennahdha Party at the Avenue Bourguiba in Tunis, March 16. According to a report from the monitoring unit of the Tunis Center for Press Freedom, attacks against journalists have risen in the last months. — Katharina Pfannkuch

A surge of applause rises in the crowded main hall of the Tunis Grand Hotel. The audience has been waiting impatiently for this evening. BBC veteran Tim Sebastian welcomes his guests to the New Arab Debates, which he launched in 2011 in response to the uprisings in the Arab world.

"I'm glad to be back in Tunis," says the British journalist. "Everyone has an opinion, everyone wants to express this opinion — and everyone has the opportunity to do this."

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