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STORY: UN / PRESS FREEDOM OBSERVANCE
TRT: 2.11
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS
DATELINE: 29 APRIL 2010, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior North Lawn building
29 APRIL 2010, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, conference room
3. Wide shot, walk in conference panel
4. Med shot, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon sits down
5. Wide shot, conference panel
6. Wide shot, conference audience
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad, Vice-President of the General Assembly:
“Freedom sometimes comes at a price and, sadly, freedom of the press is no exception. Tribute must be paid to all reporters and media organizations who made the ultimate sacrifice in the struggle for press freedom. Lives that have been lost should encourage us to defend press freedom with a greater commitment and zeal.”
8. Med shot, photographer
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:
“All Governments have a duty to protect those who work in the media. This protection must include investigating and prosecuting those who commit crimes against journalists. Impunity gives the green light to criminals and murderers, and empowers those who have something to hide. Over the long term, it has a corrosive effect on society as a whole.”
10. Wide panning shot, conference audience
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:
“We must work to change attitudes and to raise awareness. People have a right to information that affects their lives. States have a duty to provide this information. Such transparency is essential to good government.”
12. Wide shot, conference audience
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Kiyo Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for Public Information:
“Rise and observe a minute of silence in tribute to the women and the men of the media who have lost their lives in their effort to uphold the rights of people everywhere to be informed about what is happening.”
14. Wide shot, conference audience observing minute of silence
15. Wide shot, conference panel shaking hands
16. Wide shot, Secretary-General exits
A preliminary commemoration of World Press Freedom Day, to be observed on 3 May, was held today at UN Headquarters with Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad (Sudan), Vice-President of the General Assembly, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressing the audience.
Mohamad, who is also the Permanent Representative of Sudan, said that “tribute must be paid to all reporters and media organizations who made the ultimate sacrifice in the struggle for press freedom” and urged “greater commitment and zeal” in defending press freedom.
Nevertheless, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), journalists in Sudan have regularly faced “harassment, attacks, and intimidation by both government and nongovernmental forces.”
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also spoke, emphasizing that all governments “have a duty to protect those who work in the media.” He told the audience that “people have a right to information that affects their lives and states have a duty to provide this information.”
Participants in this morning’s event observed a minute of silence in honor of those who had given their lives defending the right of people everywhere to be informed. It was noted that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had condemned the killings of 77 journalists in the course of 2009.
