UN / WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY WRAP

Observing World Press Freedom Day, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon held a moment of silence honouring the more than 60 journalists who were killed worldwide last year. He said such attacks were "outrageous" and that "defenders of a free press are safeguarding our rights and we must, in turn, ensure theirs." UNTV

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Production Date: 3 May 2012
• Asset Language: Original
• Subject Topical: HUMAN RIGHTS; COMMUNICATIONS; MASS MEDIA
• MAMS Id: U120503b

Description

STORY: UN / WORLD PRESS FREEDOM WRAP
TRT: 3.04
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 3 MAY 2012, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

Shotlist

FILE – 2011, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

3 MAY 2012, NEW YORK

2. Pan left, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Irish President Michael Higgins photo-op
3. Med shot, cameras
4. Med shot, President Higgins and Ban Ki-moon seated at podium
5. Wide shot, audience
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
“Such attacks are outrageous. I call on all concerned to prevent and prosecute such violence. Defenders of a free press are safeguarding our rights and we must, in turn, ensure theirs.”
7. Wide shot, audience observing a moment of silence
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland:
“Our reiteration of the principles of World Press Freedom Day is an act of solidarity but it must, in order to have authenticity, be a commitment to turn human rights aspirations in this area from aspirations to guarantees. We remember indeed the sixty brave journalists last year and the fourteen this year who have given their lives in the pursuit of their profession. And we recognise the transformative power of the media, including new media, in driving societal reform.”
9. Wide shot, audience
10. SOUNDBITE (French) Mogens Schmidt, Director of Bureau of Field Coordination, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO):
“The cell phone has become the megaphone of an entire generation, and the Internet is the new public square of the global youth.”
11. Wide shot, President Higgins and Ban Ki-moon leaving the podium
12. Wide shot, audience
SOUNDBITE (English) Delphine Halgand, Reporters Without Borders:
“On September 24th 2011, Maria Elizabeth Macías was found decapitated in Nuevo Laredo in Mexico. Maria Elizabeth Macías was the editor of a daily called ‘Primera Hora’. She also used social networks to report about organized crime activities in her region, and blogged under the pseudonym ‘NenaDLaredo’ [The girl from Laredo]. Near her body was found a message, I quote: ‘This has happened to me because of my actions on social networks.”
13. Wide shot, audience
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, journalist and host for Huffington Post Streaming Network:
“Fifty percent of the world is under the age of thirty. In the Arab world, it’s seventy percent. Now, this is important. Because it’s these young people who have turned to the Internet to engage with others, share ideas and grievances, and mobilize to challenge the status quo.”
15. Wide shot, audience
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Amy Goodman, investigative journalist and host of Democracy Now!:
“The power of independent media is that it allows people to speak for themselves. Whether a Palestinian child or an Israeli grandmother, or an aunt who’s in the middle of Tahrir describing why she’s coming out to protest for the first time, it is our job to provide that forum.”
17. Wide shot, panellists leaving podium

Storyline

On today’s World Press Freedom Day (3 May), top United Nations (UN) officials highlighted the power of new media to spark social change and activists called for the protection of journalists to be expanded to social media contributors.

The President of Ireland, Michael Higgins joined United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at UN headquarters in New York for a special event commemorating World Press Freedom Day.

In his statement, Secretary-General Ban said that impunity for those who attack or threaten journalists remained “disturbingly prevalent” and that assaults were being carried out in broad daylight.

“Such attacks are outrageous” he said, and demanded that all concerned prevent and prosecute such violence. He said that “defenders of a free press are safeguarding our rights and we must, in turn, ensure theirs”.

Ban called for a moment of silence to honour the over sixty journalists killed worldwide in the line of duty last year.

Irish President Higgins told the meeting that World Press Freedom Day must go beyond being an act of solidarity to becoming a commitment to turn human rights aspirations in the area of press freedom into “guarantees”.

Higgins also pointed to the “transformative power of the media, including new media” in driving societal reform.

Senior UNESCO official Mogens Schmidt noted that the pictures of Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi, whose suicide set off the events of the Arab Spring, were flashed around the globe by citizens and young people. He said the cell phone had become “the megaphone of an entire generation, and the Internet is the new public square of the global youth.”

Speaking on a panel of NGO and media representatives at the same event, Delphine Halgand of Reporters Without Borders said that the Arab Spring had led to a crackdown on press freedom not just in the Arab world.

One journalist, she said, was killed every five days. Attacks were also becoming more and more brutal.

One example she recounted was of Mexican journalist and blogger, Maria Elizabeth Macías. She was found decapitated near the city of Nuevo Laredo, with a message that read “This has happened to me because of my actions on social networks.”

Journalist and self-described social media “addict” Ahmed Shihab-Eldin spoke about the growing role of new media due to the large percentage of young people in the world. He pointed out that in the Arab world, which has been at the centre of various civil movements over the past year, seventy percent of the population are under the age of thirty.

Award-winning investigative journalist Amy Goodman said that the power of independent media lay in the fact that it allowed people to speak for themselves, “whether a Palestinian child or an Israeli grandmother, or an aunt who’s in the middle of Tahrir describing why she’s coming out to protest for the first time”. She stressed that journalists needed the freedom to do their job and provide that forum.

The UN General Assembly designated 3 May as World Press Freedom Day in 1993. It aims to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom; to evaluate press freedom around the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession. This year’s theme for World Press Freedom Day is ‘New Voices: Media Freedom Helping to Transform Societies.’