Make safety a priority for journalists…

It also highlighted the arrest of student journalists in Atlanta in the United States while they were covering the ‘Occupy Atlanta” protests. The two events refocused attention on two issues: Encroachment on press freedom and the safety of journalists. As if working in tandem, two meetings at home and abroad tried to put these issues […]

It also highlighted the arrest of student journalists in Atlanta in the United States while they were covering the ‘Occupy Atlanta” protests. The two events refocused attention on two issues: Encroachment on press freedom and the safety of journalists. As if working in tandem, two meetings at home and abroad tried to put these issues on the front burner of public discourse. They also challenged journalists to take the bull by the horn and come up with policies that would address their needs.

 

Experts and media stakeholders met in Vienna, Austria in November 2911 to discuss the issue of journalists’ safety at a series of high-level consultations organised by the Austrian Foreign Ministry and the International Press Institute IPI. The IPI is the global forum for editors, media executives and proprietors.   Impunity in crimes against journalists, serious shortcomings in the implementation of international treaties for the protection of journalists, and a widespread ignorance about specific obligations under such treaties were identified by participants of the meeting as some of the greatest challenges in ensuring journalists’ safety around the world.

The meeting brought together international experts on journalists’ safety from media and civil society organizations, as well as representatives of governments. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss concrete means of effectively ensuring the safety of journalists around the world, especially through the United Nations and other international organizations.

Participants pointed out that while journalists can contribute to their own safety and civil society organizations play an important role in stemming the problem, the main responsibility to protect journalists and end impunity in crimes against journalist’s remains with state institutions, which often fail to do so.

•        Participants highlighted the important role of free media in helping to ensure full respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law.

•         It was stressed that journalists play a special role in society and that the protection of this role is in the public interest. Participants noted that violence against journalists has to be understood as a particular kind of crime that aims at destroying the very pillars of democracy.

•      Participants also referred to the growing threats posed by non-state actors, such as terrorist organizations and criminal enterprises.

•         Participants were particularly concerned with the increase in targeted killings of journalists.

•       Widespread and systematic impunity that perpetrators of crimes against journalists enjoy was considered as one of the main obstacles to ensuring effective protection of journalists.

•         Participants highlighted that despite condemnations of attacks against journalists, all in all there was a lack of awareness of the problem both at the level of states and civil society, as well as among the broader public.

•         Participants noted, however, that journalists themselves, as well as media outlets and enterprises, should place this issue at the top of their own agenda.

–    Participants underlined that the prevention of future attacks against journalists is closely linked to respect for the rule of law, an independent judiciary, and properly-trained, professional security forces sensitized to the rights and roles of the media.

–     Participants agreed on the importance of investing in measures – at the international, regional and national levels – to prevent attacks against journalists.

– In addition to identifying the need for more awareness-raising for the protection of journalists by all relevant stakeholders, participants highlighted, inter alia, the following preventive measures to ensure a functioning protection environment:

–    The development of training programs for security forces on the rights and the role of the media.

–  The development of safety training for journalists as an element of any media development program.

–    Measures of self-protection, including hostile environment training programs, professional standards of safe reporting, technical equipment that can help journalists in dangerous situations. In this context, participants stressed that while journalists have the professional responsibility to do everything in their power to prevent any danger they face as a consequence of their profession, this should not be used by states to disregard their fundamental duty to protect journalists.