Over 40 journalist leaders met in Taipei, Taiwan over July 7-10 at an International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Asia-Pacific conference called "Media for Democracy - the Challenge in Asia".
Hosted by the IFJ's Taiwan affiliate, the Association of Taiwan Journalists, and supported by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, the meeting brought together leaders of journalists' organisations from: Australia, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand.
The meeting passed the following resolution:
This meeting of over 40 journalists' leaders from the International Federation of Journalists Asia-Pacific group, led by the IFJ President Christopher Warren, meeting in Taipei from 7-10 July:
RECOGNISES the key role of IFJ affiliates in IFJ work in the region. Affiliates play a vital role in the IFJ. Affiliates offer a personalised approach to the fight for press freedom. Affiliates are there on the ground everyday and know better than anyone else the problems that exist in their countries;
ENDORSES resolution 14 of the XXV Congress of the IFJ, meeting in Athens 2004, titled: IFJ Project Activities 2004-2007, specifically:
- Considering that the strength of the IFJ lies in its development of regional capacity and networks of journalists' union;
- Believing that it is essential to widen and deepen the scope and effectiveness of IFJ project activities in order to strengthen regional networks, resources and work under intolerable social and political conditions;
-That project programmes are designed in a dialogue with relevant IFJ affiliate and regional groups and with the aim to strengthen existing regional organisations and work and to maintain IFJ project division activities;
- That continental and regional groups should be consulted during the preparation of training and other programs for their membership. Reasonable suggestions should be recognised and accepted in finalising such programs, taking into account the democratic needs, tradition and social circumstances in the region;
- That the IFJ seeks diversified sources of funding by encouraging more co-operation with regional sources of funding and creating a balance of partnerships with national development agencies, foundations and international organisations;
CONSIDERING this resolution of Congress, the IFJ affiliates in the Asia-Pacific set the following priorities for its work in the region:
-Safety
-Trade union development
-Conflict reporting
-Gender
-Forms of employment
-HIV/AIDS
-Child rights
-Public service media
-Media concentration and foreign investment
Safety:
RECOGNISING that the safety of journalists working in the Asia-Pacific region is of absolute priority;
NOTING the high death toll of journalists in the Asia-Pacific region, plus specific areas of conflict in the region;
ENCOURAGES media organisations in the Asia-Pacific region to adhere to the IFJ International Code of Practice for the safe conduct of Journalism;
REQUESTS that the following steps be undertaken to ensure the safety of journalists working in the region:
? Provide safety training for journalists in the region, through national courses, building on the models currently being developed by journalists' unions and safety training institutions through the IFJ safety programme,
? Translate and adapt to local conditions and needs the basic safety booklets and training materials into major languages of the region and to distribute these materials to every newsroom;
? Ensure that every newsroom has a basic safety kit which will be available for the use of journalists and news gatherers;
? Demand that the issue of safety - as set out in the guidelines developed by the IFJ - is included in collective agreements.
Trade Union development:
RECOGNISING the need for strong independent and representative journalists' associations and trade unions;
UNDERSTANDING that a free press demands free and independent trade unions of journalists;
RECOMMENDS that trade unions be recognised as strong and representative organisations of media professionals and as vital partners in the creation of the conditions for independent journalism, free from interference and hindrance;
DEMANDS that all journalists - however they are employed or engaged - should be able to join a union and bargain collectively;
REQUESTS that assistance programmes to media and journalists' groups be developed and carried out with the full involvement of the journalists' associations and trade unions;
CALLS upon the IFJ affiliates to promote trade union development with Asia-Pacific journalists unions' and associates in the region.
Conflict Reporting:
RECOGNISING the key role that fair and accurate reporting plays in situations of conflict;
AWARE that journalists should be especially sensitive when reporting on race, religion, or ethnicity and to not mention these unnecessarily;
CALLS upon journalists and media organisations in the Asia-Pacific region to look beyond the official news for a deeper understanding of the story;
RECOMMENDS that professional training programmes covering conflict reporting and tolerance as developed by the IFJ, its unions and other media interest groups be adapted throughout the region to promote the value of tolerance and diversity in media.
Gender:
RECOGNISING that all members of affiliated unions and journalists generally are equal and should not discriminated against because of their gender;
CALLS upon affiliates to strive for a balanced participation of women and men at IFJ meetings;
RECOMMENDS unions work to assist women to establish themselves in the profession and demands increased awareness of gender issues in unions and in media organisations, including through the use of IFJ gender equity training materials;
ENCOURAGES unions affiliated to make their members aware of their legal rights and responsibilities when it comes to gender discrimination.
Irregular forms of Employment:
RECOGNISING the increasing trend for employers in the Asia-Pacific region to promote irregular forms of employment in place of permanent employment;
NOTING that this often leads to a reduction of pay and conditions;
RECOGNISING the destabilising effect of these forms of employment on journalists' unions in the Asia-Pacific region;
SUPPORTS the IFJ-ILO survey on irregular forms of employment and revision of wages in countries with appropriate mechanisms;
DEMANDS that media organisations protect freelance, correspondents, and contract journalists. They must receive, on equal basis, the same protection and access to training, equipment, and union representation as fully employed staff. Anything less is not acceptable;
CALLS for the commitment of all journalists, trade unions, public authorities, and employers to ensure the rights to work and intellectual property rights of freelance, correspondent, and contract journalists, and to work to set up a framework for collective bargaining for all journalists.
HIV/AIDS:
RECOGNISING that education is the key to stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS and that journalists have a responsibility to educate the public about what can be done to prevent contracting the virus;
CALLS upon Asia-Pacific journalists and their unions, as agenda setters and gatekeepers of the news, to raise awareness of the risk of HIV/AIDS throughout Asia-Pacific region;
RECOMMENDS that an IFJ HIV/AIDS training module and media guide for specific use in the Asia-Pacific region be developed and promoted so that more fair and balanced reports on the disease can be achieved;
ENCOURAGES journalists as frequent travellers to take all necessary precautions to protect themselves from contracting the HIV/AIDS virus, especially when working in great risk areas.
Child Rights:
RECOGNISING the prevalence of child labour in the Asia-Pacific region;
DEMANDS the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, with special focus on child labour in the sex industry;
CALLS on journalists everywhere to use their role as watchdogs raising awareness of child exploitation such as reporting on data;
ENCOURAGES IFJ Asia-Pacific affiliates to adopt and use the IFJ child rights training module and handbook throughout the region;
CONDEMNS anyone involved in the exploitation of children for any reason. Children are our future and must be protected at all costs.
Public Service Media:
RECOGNISING the key role of public service broadcasting and other media ("public service media") in a democratic society;
DEMANDS all governments to convert state-owned media into genuinely independent public service media;
CALLS for increased funding for public service media in the Asia-Pacific region to ensure independence, quality and accountability of public broadcasting and other public service media;
RECOMMENDS that editorial staff involved in public service media be better trained so as to maintain their independence and avoid biased reporting. This can be achieved through implementing structures of independent management;
RECOMMENDS that governments and public agencies that utilise 'paid content' or other public service advertising must monitor the use of such funds to ensure a distinction between news and advertisements, and to ensure that public paid content advertising is not used in ways that harm internal news freedom or editorial autonomy;
DEMANDS that plurality of views and variety of programming in public service media must be protected from political interference.
Media Concentration & Foreign Investment
RECOGNISING the degenerative effect of globalisation, increasing media concentration, corporate restructuring and foreign investment in the media and the danger of power concentred in the hands of a few powerful international and national media groups;
DEMANDS that national governments reject the growth of monopolies in TV, radio, newspapers and information sources and legislate against further media concentration and work to protect and promote a broad and rich media industry that reflects all voices;
CALLS for local journalists' organisations to fight against laws or regulations that strengthen media concentration or weaken anti-trust rules in order to protect media and defend pluralism.
RECOMMENDS that the IFJ co-ordinate a regional campaign to support affiliate organisations in defence against cross media ownership, foreign ownership and concentration of media on a global scale.
For further information, please contact Christopher Warren on +61 411 757 668.
The IFJ represents over 500,000 journalists in more than 110 countries
