The sporting directors will no longer find it as easy to warn the riders of hazards lying ahead, and to pass information they will have to spend more time manoeuvring their cars through the peloton, with a consequent increase in risk on narrow roads often thronged with spectators.

To today's riders, who have known nothing else, it seems an inexplicable folly that puts their security at risk. Older fans, and riders of previous generations who are no longer involved in racing, see it as a positive move to break the almost robotic degree of control that some teams, including those led by Lance Armstrong, have exerted over the race in recent years. It is a scheme that, by and large, divides the generations. By banning the devices during a flat run from Limoges to Issoudun on 14 July and a much hillier affair including two firstвЂ‘category climbs between Vittel and Colmar three days later, the organisers are clearly hoping to reintroduce an element of old-fashioned spontaneity and uncertainty. Since the mid-1990s, team directors have used radios to keep in contact with their riders, providing them with a stream of tactical instructions and information concerning the state of the race. 'Next they'll be asking us to ride for two days without helmets, or without cables in our brakes,' said the veteran German rider Jens Voigt, twice a wearer of the Tour's yellow jersey, during a press conference given by his Saxo Bank team. Since 2010 the Human Rights Award has been given annually to documentaries that seek to throw light on a question of human rights reflecting the values and priorities of the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) and SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication.As the teams gathered here for Saturday's start of the 2009 Tour de France, two prominent riders and one team director today expressed disapproval of the organiser's intention to ban the use of radio communication during two stages in the middle week of the race, claiming that it threatens their safety. The International Documentary Filmfestival in Amsterdam described the film as a вЂњpowerful portrait of an uncommonly courageous and tenacious woman makes it very clear what you get when the freedom of the press is crushed: no rule of law and a crumbling democracy.вЂќ CarmenвЂ™s courage is an example for the press and for journalists, especially women, struggling to make their voices heard, defending ethics based on human dignity in order to foster peace as essential for a better society. Radio Silence is well made, almost a thriller giving the impression that it will reach the inevitable moment when Carmen would be killed, which fortunately is not the case. It illustrates that the fight to give a voice to the powerless is more than necessary, but in these times in which the powerful own and control most of the media, the fight becomes more and more unequal. Radio Silence is a documentary about these issues and the important role the media play. She uses her personal funds to start broadcasting via the internet and social media to continue to play her role as вЂњthe fourth estateвЂќ in the service of the people, defending human rights and justice. During the making of this film, Aristegui gets fired from the radio station where she works and she and her collaborators face death threats. Aristegui is not afraid openly to criticize President Enrique PeГ±a Nieto and politicians involved with the drug cartels. Violence is omnipresent: journalists, women and children are murdered.

This is made clear at the beginning of the film where Carmen is at a demonstration in front of the ministry of the interior to ask justice for her murdered colleague journalist Javier Valdez. She and her colleagues know that they do this at the risk of their lives, even when they admit to not being suicidal. Over four years (2015-18), film-maker Juliana Fanjul followed the well-known Mexican radio journalist Carmen Aristegui, who is one of the most critical voices in the country fighting for an independent press. Radio Silence (Silencio Radio), directed by Juliana Fanjul (Mexico, 2019), has received the WACC-SIGNIS Human Rights Award 2020.ДЄ feature-length documentary (77 min.), it highlights the essence of freedom of speech, human rights and democracy expressed by the courage of journalists in Mexico to fight against state corruption, drug crimes and injustice in this country where every year more than 30,000 inhabitants are killed.

Radio silence directors