Newspaper & Mailroom

Global media community releases declaration on the safety of journalists

Tuesday 23. October 2012 - The escalating threat to the safety of journalists has brought together an extraordinary group of editors, frontline journalists, professionals and press freedom monitoring groups to demand action from governments to stop the killing and harassment of journalists and to end impunity.

The group, which met at the BBC College of Journalism in London last week, ahead of a United Nations meeting in November, signed an eight point declaration that condemns killings and attacks, expresses dismay over the lack of government action, and welcomes the latest UN initiative.
Thirty-five journalism and media groups and individuals signed the London Statement, including the World Editors Forum and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), representing editors, publishers and news organisations in 120 countries.
In a move of rare solidarity, representatives from major newspapers and broadcasters in some of the most dangerous countries for journalists, including Pakistan, Mexico, Russia, Sri Lanka and Somalia, agreed that threats, both physical and legal, must end.
A rare window of opportunity for global action had opened up ahead of United Nations Vienna Inter-Agency meeting with media and journalist organisations on 22-23 November, which will focus on practical ways to implement the UN Plan of Action for the Safety of Journalists at country, regional and local level.
Rodney Pinder of the International News Safety Institute said it was critical that the campaign for safety gather momentum. But the key to success was for governments to adhere to laws already in place, such as the Geneva Convention, governing war and peace, and laws prohibiting murder. The cheapest form of censorship was murder and harassment, he added.
Peter Horrocks, the BBC’s director of World News, said the BBC faced threats on a number of levels, including jamming of its signals, pressure from Iran on members of the families of people who worked for its Persian service, legal threats, and threats of violence by the Taliban. “We should salute the bravery of those journalists having to work with those threats,” he said, but should also remember that it was local news organisations who were most threatened.
Mexican journalist Anabel Hernández, who was awarded the 2012 Golden Pen of Freedom by WAN-IFRA for her work exposing corruption and the drug cartels, despite death threats, said many journalists in Mexico considered the culture of killing as a normal part of their job. To change the culture of violence would require action from not only governments but from society too, she said.