(IFJ/IPI/IFEX) – The following is a joint IFJ/IPI press release: As War Looms Media, Journalists and Press Freedom Groups Launch Global Campaign for News Safety An unprecedented coalition of media companies, journalists, press freedom groups and international organisations has announced plans to launch a new global network to counter attacks on media and violence against […]
(IFJ/IPI/IFEX) – The following is a joint IFJ/IPI press release:
As War Looms Media, Journalists and Press Freedom Groups Launch Global Campaign for News Safety
An unprecedented coalition of media companies, journalists, press freedom groups and international organisations has announced plans to launch a new global network to counter attacks on media and violence against journalists.
The prospect of a new war in Iraq and the regional struggles in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world have sparked a surge of interest in new actions to protect journalists and media staff.
The International News Safety Institute, based at the International Press Centre in Brussels, is the initiative of the world’s largest journalists’ group, the International Federation of Journalists, and the International Press Institute, which represents editors and media executives.
“The Institute will bring safety into the media mainstream,” said Aidan White, General Secretary of the IFJ. He said that already in 2002, some 65 journalists and media staff had been killed while on duty and hundreds more were affected by violence against media. “It is time for media to work together to reduce the risks and to confront those who threaten journalism around the world.”
Richard Tait, Vice President of the IPI and former Editor in Chief of ITN, said the Institute will forge a unified approach by broadcast and print media. “We need to dispel the attitude that safety is optional. It must be taken seriously by everyone, including managers,” he said. “We need to change the culture of indifference.”
The IFJ and IPI, conscious of the threats of possible new media casualties in the worsening political climate in the Middle East and elsewhere, organised an inaugural discussion among media industry leaders last week in Brussels.
The meeting included representatives of more than 50 international networks, including the BBC, CNN, ITN, Reuters, a number of national media, and the world’s largest network of regional broadcasters, the European Broadcasting Union. They joined journalists’ unions from Great Britain, the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Southern Africa, and press freedom groups, including Reporters sans frontiéres, in backing moves to set up the new Institute as soon as possible. Representatives from international organisations, including UNESCO, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and NATO also pledged their support.
“More than 80 organisations working for news safety have already signed up,” said Aidan White. “This is a unique network of solidarity that will provide practical assistance to journalists and media staff most in need anywhere in the world.”
The Institute, which plans to establish regional groups, has already adopted a draft plan of action, which includes:
– Setting standards: The Institute will set international standards for safety training and equipment. “The standards should be global, not one code for the north and one for the south,” the meeting concluded. Training programmes organised by military and private organisations will be verified. A common international safety code is planned.
– Safety Training for All: The Institute will expand access to risk-awareness training for journalists and media staff and plans to raise funds for projects that will provide training, organised according to local needs, for those who currently cannot afford courses, including freelancers.
– Information Hub: The Institute will have a regional focus and will bring together knowledge and experience from working journalists, regional experts, press freedom groups and professional trainers. It will also provide access to equipment, safety manuals and materials for media and journalists.
– Lobbying for Safety: The Institute will be a key lobbying organisation, putting pressure on the industry and governments for more effective action to protect journalists. “Not just those on the frontline, but also for those who are victims of violence at home, whether covering potentially violent events or are carrying out investigative journalism.”
The Institute will focus on all aspects of safety and welfare of journalists and media staff, including promotion of cut-price insurance schemes for freelance and media staff, and promoting trauma and stress counselling initiatives to help media staff cope with the pressures of reporting in difficult conditions.
The Institute comes with the backing of pioneers of news safety work, including John Owen, former head of the Freedom Forum European Centre and currently teaching journalism at City University, London, who outlined the main challenges facing the meeting: to confront the lack of participation from smaller media and the printed press, to develop a service for local journalists, and to internationalise the news safety campaign.
“The time is right to bring news safety into the forefront of media work globally,” he said, “we must do more to reduce the risks and confront the killers who make journalism such a dangerous business these days.”
Another pioneer of news safety work, Chris Cramer, President of CNN International Networks, who two weeks ago renewed his calls for the media industry to take safety more seriously, is giving the Institute his full backing and has agreed to be the Institute’s first Honorary President.
