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Marvin Segura
Joined: Mar 22, 2005
Posts: 2 (view all)
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Gender & Age: Male & 26
Country: Philippines
Province/State: Manila
City: Manila
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Press Freedom
May 4, 2005 - 05:56 AM
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World Press Freedom Day 2005 Focuses on Media and Good Governance
Media and Good Governance is the theme of this
years World Press Freedom Day, May 3, which
UNESCO is observing in Dakar with an
international conference on the subject and the
award ceremony of the 2005 UNESCO/Guillermo
Cano World Press Freedom Prize.
The Conference (Meridien Hotel, 1 May to May 3)
will be opened by the Prime Minister of Senegal,
Macky Sall, and by UNESCOs Assistant Director-
General for Communication and Information, Abdul
Waheed Khan. Leading professionals from all over
the world and representatives of major international
and African non-governmental as well as
intergovernmental organizations will take part in
the event. Kochiro Matsuura, Director-General of
UNESCO, and Mr Alpha Oumar Konar, President
of the Commission of the African Union, will close
the Conference.
Issues to be addressed in different sessions of the
Conference include: The medias direct input in
promoting good governance (participation,
elections, anti-corruption and the rule of law); the
media and poverty; media and human rights;
freedom of information and access to information;
journalistic ethics and investigative journalism
training. Participants are expected to adopt
recommendations and a framework for action at
the close of the Conference.
The UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press
Freedom Prize award ceremony, at the Daniel
Sorano Theatre (3 May, 4 p.m.), will follow the
close of the Conference.
Abdoulaye Wade, President of Senegal, will host
the award ceremony with the participation of
President Konar and Olusegun Obasanjo,
President of Nigeria. The Director-General of
UNESCO will award the Prize. This years laureate
is Chinese journalist Cheng Yizhong, chosen by
an independent international jury of media
professionals chaired by Kavi Chongkittavorn,
executive editor of the Bangkok English-language
daily The Nation.
UNESCO, as the intergovernmental organization
with a constitutional mandate to promote the free
flow of ideas by word and image, observes World
Press Freedom Day to highlight the importance of
press freedom and the fundamental human right of
freedom of expression. UNESCOs offices are
organizing seminars and other events to mark the
Day in all parts of the world, from the Caribbean
and Latin America to Southeast Asia, the Middle
East and Southern Africa.
In a message for the Day, the Director-General of
UNESCO, Kochiro Matsuura, explains that
without freedom of expression and media
freedom, democracy cannot prevail and
development remains unattainable. Independent,
free and pluralistic media have a crucial role to
play in the good governance of democratic
societies, by ensuring transparency and
accountability, promoting participation and the rule
of law, and contributing to the fight against
poverty.
Not only do free and independent media act as
guardians of human rights and watchdogs against
abuses by authority, they also provide citizens
with the information they require to exercise their
democratic rights, notably in times of election. The
media also disseminate information that is crucial
for the life and development of communities. They
have an essential contribution to make to the
achievement, scheduled for 2015, of the United
Nations Millennium Goals, including the
eradication of extreme poverty, achieving universal
primary education, promoting gender equality and
combating HIV-AIDS.
UNESCO has long supported independent and
pluralistic media in developing countries, countries
in transition, and post conflict areas around the
world and in Africa. This support has taken
different forms: assistance in preparing legislation
that is favourable to freedom of expression and
capacity building (professional training and the
development of infrastructure).
UNESCO Press Release No.2005-49
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Marvin Segura
Joined: Mar 22, 2005
Posts: 2 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Tongue-tied
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Male, 26
Country: Philippines
Province/State: Manila
City: Manila
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The public is the first beneficiary of press freedom
May 4, 2005 - 06:06 AM
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As the world marks World Press Freedom Day
today, May 3, it is best to heed
this reminder by the International Federation of
Journalists: "There can be
no press freedom if journalists exist in conditions
of corruption, poverty
or fear."
These problems are pervasive in Philippine media.
Each strengthens the
others. Collectively, they represent major threats
to press freedom.
Corruption is widespread in the Philippine press,
and it takes all forms. It
is practiced by individual journalists or by cartels of
reporters and
editors. Sometimes, it is institutionalized, as when
management of media
firms hinge news coverage on fees, or when
employers force staff to publish
or air biased, slanted articles that advance their
own economic and
political interests.
There are many factors that fuel media corruption.
During the Marcos regime
and pretty much afterward, co-opting and
corrupting journalists was de
rigueur; administrations took the easy way in
putting out messages through
compromised journalists.
Poverty is a major, though certainly not the lone,
reason for corruption.
Many print and broadcast companies rely on
correspondents and talents for a
substantial portion of their news. But many of
media's foot soldiers do not
receive the benefits of regular labor. They are often
deprived of security
of tenure, health care or insurance coverage, and
regular salaries. Many are
forced to accept -- in many instances demand --
bribes or moonlight in jobs
that expose them to conflict-of-interest situations.
As if these problems are not enough, the Filipino
journalist is also under
threat. Last year, seven journalists were murdered,
pushing the Philippines
to the top rank -- with Colombia -- of the most
dangerous places in the
world to practice journalism. Combined figures by
the National Union of
Journalists of the Philippines and the Center for
Media Freedom and
Responsibility show that, since 1986, 51
journalists have been killed.
Perhaps even more tragic than these deaths is this
fact: Not one suspect has
been brought to justice.
Fear and intimidation do not solely come from
killings. Filipino journalists
regularly get threats. In one instance, a police
chief in the south sent a
reporter a threat through a text message for
reporting about the video
karera in the community that the police had failed
to eliminate.
Even national figures like President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo and candidate
Fernando Poe Jr. have lashed out at journalists
who were merely doing their
job.
Despite their shortcomings and limitations, Filipino
journalists need
protection, if only to help them better serve the
public good. The public is
the first beneficiary of press freedom. Without
press freedom, there can
only be lies and misinformation. Without press
freedom, we won't know what
goes on in the deepest recesses of the
bureaucracy. Without press freedom,
we won't know of the unspeakable horrors being
inflicted on Filipinos,
especially the poor, on a daily basis in the cities
and in the countryside.
A press under siege by fear, poverty and corruption
could easily renege on
its duty to defend the public's right to know.
Independent, responsible
journalists play a big role in molding an
enlightened citizenry, the latter
the bulwark of all working democracies.
We can only urge citizens to actively support
journalists' struggles against
threats to press freedom. In doing this, you will
also protect Philippine
democracy. #
http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?
Index=2453&Language=EN
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