EDITORIAL - JULY 14th - My National Day

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It's not about the flags, the parties all over France, the Fireworks or other festivities. If I like this particular day of July 14th, which is, in France, the National Day, it is mainly because it was the day where many of my forefathers fought and died for our liberty. They overthrew the French monarchy to start a republic with, amongst other rights, the freedom of speech.

As a reporter, this right is the most important of all. I have colleagues, friends, all over the world, who are brilliant reporters, but who cannot write as they wish because of self-censorship, or censorship from their editors or even worse, governments.

I am lucky enough to live in a country where anyone can write anything. Of course, it leads to some problems sometimes, but I can't think of a better country in which to do my job. The world of badminton somehow escapes this censorship problem as it is mainly about sports.

When it comes to political issues, we, at Badzine, always keep in mind that our job is to make the sport grow, and if we keep some information secret, sometimes, it is only because we feel it wouldn't help the sport. Also, we always privilege the players' privacy and rights to keep their own private life away from the media. We will always respect that, even if we try to also give our readers inside stories of their favourite stars - it is always with the latters' benediction.

So, we will continue to be independent, and fight for our values. And our freedom of speech. This is something I will tell my co-chief editors of local versions of Badzine, in Germany, but in the upcoming Chinese, Japanese and Indian versions.

And I hope that somehow, some day, all my colleagues, wherever they're from, will be able to speak and write as freely as I can. About badminton or anything else...and not only on July 14th.

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