1:13 PM |
Pacific journalists get help protecting human rights
Updated
Press freedom in the Pacific will now be monitored by a new group.
The International Federation of Journalists has announced a new project called "Media for Democracy and Human Rights in the Pacific", and is designed to help media workers and press freedom advocates defend and promote human rights and fundamental freedoms in the region.
Presenter: Campbell Cooney
Speaker: Cherelle Jackson, Pacific media rights monitor, International Federation of Journalists
- Listen:
- Windows Media
JACKSON: The project will of course monitor press freedom in the Pacific that's looking into the issues faced by journalists in the region, not only the newsrooms and their communities, but as well as in the region. Some of the messages we're going to use is of course strengthening the role of media monitors in the countries, as well as civil rights advocates who are already working with the media.
COONEY: Ok it's started I take it?
JACKSON: Yes it started at the end of June, so basically the first of July things kick-started. But again, we're in the very beginning stages of the project.
COONEY: It involves the IFJ, it's got the support as you mentioned there of the European Union and UNESCO. What was it about it that they felt this is worth us putting our support behind?
JACKSON: Well Campbell this is a very good question because you see with IFJ and of course including Reporters Without Borders, a lot of the press freedom monitoring occurs mainly in Asia, and other regions of the world, and the Pacific tends to be neglected. So I think these organisations saw the need for monitoring in the Pacific, and definitely with the situation in Fiji catapulting to uncontrollable press freedom and infringements of the rights of journalists, this has certainly taken their attention. And I think they see the need to probably take a stock-take and stand up for the rights of journalists in the Pacific.
COONEY: Fiji as you mentioned there Cherelle is a major issue for press freedom, not just in the Pacific but around the world, and there's major concerns that have been raised there. What about other parts and other countries around the region, what are the issues that the IFJ is seeing that have to be addressed?
JACKSON: Well of course you see Tonga, Tonga's an interesting case because even though there's infringements of the rights of the media there or rights of the journalists, we barely hear of it because there are no systems in place to bring up those issues. And also in Samoa where there's also daily occurrences of threats to the lives of journalists as well as, well mainly physical threats and other countries. So there's a scatter of individual incidences, but there has been no system in place to try and get more of these issues together and identify them as a major problem in the Pacific.
COONEY: Is there a concern that perhaps you're going to have to a certain degree in some places get journalists onboard with this, that they feel the concern and it frustrates them but at times they might not be prepared to take something that's can be seen as concerted or an action together to try and do something in their particular part of the region?
JACKSON: Yeah that's a very important point for this work Campbell. As you know the Pacific is very small and a lot of the journalists who do come in to events like that, for instance physical threats, it's hard for them to actually request regional action or a statement or someone to lobby or back them up, because at the end of the day they have to deal with the locals, they have to go back to where they live and work, and it might have negative repercussions for them. And so it's very important that this project looks into the impact of such actions, of such lobbying on the actual journalists who's facing the threats.
COONEY: Cherelle you're the Media Rights Monitor, what exactly what will your role be in it?
JACKSON: Well my role would be of course assisting in the training of journalists, but my major role is to create alerts. So when there's an incident that occurs in one of these countries and it's quite an immediate threat or one of the journalists has been threatened, and there's several guidelines as well, such as there's travel restrictions, there's an arrest of a journalist, someone has been charged, there's harassment, kidnapping or threats, attacks on families or an office is burnt down; my role is then to issue statements or at least to request the IFJ or the Pacific Freedom Forum to issue statements on how to assist this person in preventing any further harm, not only on their professional but personal lives.
----------------------------------------
pacific islands media association
pima.nius@gmail.com
aotearoa, new zealand
----------------------------------------
The pima.nius googlegroup is a facility for discussion and distributing information. Content sent by this googlegroup are forwarded from various networks and media publications.
DISCLAIMER: These emails are unedited and discussions made through this googlegroup are unmoderated. Announcements made through this googlegroup do not constitute endorsement for the organisations, individuals or opinions featured. Please check the integrity of organisations and individuals before exchanging personal information with them.
- - - - - - - - -
comment here:
http://groups.google.com/group/pima-nius/topics?hl=en
send an email comment here:
pima-nius@googlegroups.com
unsubscribe:
pima-nius+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
more options
http://groups.google.com/group/pima-nius?hl=en?hl=en
- - - - - - - - -
0 comments:
Post a Comment