Hundreds of journalists in Tunisia strike over government interference

TUNIS, Tunisia – Tunisia's journalists are holding a daylong strike to protest what they call government interference.

Several hundred journalists gathered Wednesday outside union headquarters in the capital of Tunis, chanting for freedom of the press. Newspapers did not appear and television and radio news programs restricted themselves to the headlines.

Before the overthrow of Tunisia's dictator in January 2011, the press was tightly controlled by the government. It has since experienced unprecedented freedom.

The journalists' union, however, has opposed a series of appointments by the new moderate Islamist government to the state TV and the venerable Dar Assabah publishing house.

Authorities denied trying to control the media and reiterated the government's respect for freedom of the press.