(PINA/IFEX) – The following is a PINA press release: Freedom of expression and information as basic human rights was the focal point at Pacific World Press Freedom Day regional ceremonies held in Suva, Fiji Islands, on May 3rd. The ceremonies were organised by Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) and hosted by the Secretariat of the […]
(PINA/IFEX) – The following is a PINA press release:
Freedom of expression and information as basic human rights was the focal
point at Pacific World Press Freedom Day regional ceremonies held in Suva,
Fiji Islands, on May 3rd. The ceremonies were organised by Pacific Islands
News Association (PINA) and hosted by the Secretariat of the Pacific
Community (SPC) at its centre in Suva.
Delivering the keynote address, PINA president William Parkinson explained
how the need to promote media freedom in the Fiji Islands stemmed from the
1987 Fiji military coups. During these, newspapers and radio stations were
closed at gunpoint, journalists detained and harassed, and censorship
imposed. Mr Parkinson told journalists, journalism trainers and educators
and news executives from 13 Pacific Islands countries, diplomats,
international agency representatives and community leaders: “In Fiji, people
realised media freedom was a precious thing we had to fight for. But media
being only a small component of the society, we realised we couldn’t fight
it alone. The general public had to be made aware that media freedom is an
individual right.”
As a result of the Fiji coups and other pressures on the regional media PINA
had begun its “Media Freedom is Your Freedom” campaigns with UNESCO support.
These stressed Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which
said: “Everyone has the right to freedom of information and expression; this
right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek,
receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of
frontiers.”
Mr Parkinson, however, added that media freedom is never absolute: it comes
with a responsibility to the societies in which they live and a commitment
to provide “the highest standards of ethical journalism.” This, Mr Parkinson
said, implied the building of “more skills in order to deliver a quality
product”. This was why PINA constantly stressed the linkage between
promoting and defending media freedom and developing professional standards
through education and training. PINA’s World Press Freedom Day ceremonies
included the opening of two regional workshops, one on writing and editing
for TV news, the other on training the trainers on women in the news.
Mr Parkinson also stressed the importance of PINA’s international media
freedom links, especially through UNESCO and IFEX (the International Freedom
of Expression Exchange) and also with organisations such as the World Press
Freedom Committee, International Press Institute, Commonwealth Press Union,
Committee to Protect Journalists, and INDEX On Censorship. They had played a
major role in helping promote and defend media freedom in the Pacific
Islands, he said.
The ceremonies also included the reading in both French and English of a
joint message from UNESCO’s Director-General Federico Mayor, United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan and United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights Mary Robinson. In it they said: “We issue a joint appeal to all
governments, regional and local authorities to renew their commitment to
guarantee the safety of journalists and to ensure that crimes against
journalists do not go unpunished. Each time a journalist is killed or
attacked, society at large suffers a grievous wound. For whenever one
journalist suffers violence, intimidation or arbitrary detention because of
his or her commitment to conveying the truth, all citizens are robbed of the
right to think and act according to their conscience.”
The ceremonies were led by Nina Ratulele, PINA’s administrator and also
coordinator of the PINA Pacific Freedom of Information Network. Ms Ratulele
was just recently in Cape Town elected convener (chairperson) of the IFEX
(International Freedom of Expression Exchange) council. The ceremonies began
with a prayer for media freedom written and led by Laumanu Petelo, of the
Tonga Broadcasting Commission, and the reading of Article 19 in French (by
Jean-Baptiste Calo, of Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation) and
English (by Boswell Haoti, of Niue Television).
In other addresses at the ceremonies:
– The Pacific Community’s deputy Director-General, Dr Jimmie Rodgers, of the
Solomon Islands, said the biggest challenge probably facing the regional
media these days is to “get the governments to put into practice the
principles of media freedom.”
– Australia’s Acting High Commissioner Anne Plunkett opened the
AusAID-supported PINA workshops and praised the participation of more women.
PINA’s 1999 regional World Press Freedom Day campaign featured the
celebration and promotion of the 50 years of Article 19. With support from
UNESCO, PINA produced posters, bookmarks, and radio and TV tapes promoting
Article 19. They were all done in the region’s two main languages, English
and French, and distributed for use by PINA members in 21 Pacific Islands
countries and territories. As well, PINA has had Article 19 translated into
all the region’s main local languages. These are included in a special media
freedom handbook, also being produced with UNESCO support.
