A number of eminent journalists, media experts and representatives from community radio stations came together at a day-long seminar organized by the UN Information Centre, UNESCO and the Institute of Rural Research and Development (IRRAD) to mark World Press Freedom Day in New Delhi on 3 May.
 
The theme of the seminar was ‘Rural Voices: Upholding Freedom of Expression through Mainstream and Alternative Media’. The objective of the conference was to promote voices of communities having limited space in the mainstream media, highlight the importance of media freedom to development and rural empowerment, and reflect on the ways in which the media could help transform lives in the country’s rural and less accessible areas.
 
Sukumar Muralidharan, Programme Manager, International Federation of Journalists, presented the UNESCO-supported Press Freedom Report for South Asia 2012-13. This annual report monitors and reviews developments in the South Asian region that have a bearing on press freedom and quality journalism.
 
The inaugural session saw presentations by UNIC Director Kiran Mehra-Kerpelman, UNESCO Director and Representative for India Shigeru Aoyagi and IRRAD Chief Executive Officer Jane E. Schukoske.
 
“These are exciting times for the media in India,” remarked Ms. Mehra-Kerpelman. “But this is perhaps an opportune time to stop and ask:  is the media is contributing to the strengthening of democratic institutions? What is the range of public views and sentiment that it manages to capture? And to what extent is it able to empower the poorest and the marginalized?”
 
“The most critical role of a free media is to protect the public interest and uphold democracy,” added Mr. Aoyagi. “The media’s function as watchdog is fundamental, as is the belief that it is the only institution that can fulfil such a function. The media are not just the anointed representative of the public, their practices must be intrinsically bound up with the fostering of public trust and accountability.”
 
Ms. Schukoske referred to the media’s lack of engagement with the lives of people in rural and poor urban areas. “We hope that mainstream media will step up to the need for greater attention to the realities of rural India, and that the alternative media will grow in its important role of creating spaces for rural voices,” she added.
 
Senior journalist Bharat Bhushan, in his keynote address, provided a comprehensive survey of the challenges facing the Indian media. This was followed by an equally meticulous, critical survey of the trends in Indian media and an assessment of the road ahead by the Chief Guest, Jawhar Sircar, Chief executive Officer of Prasar Bharati, India’s largest public broadcaster.
 
The first panel discussion saw eminent journalists and commentators discuss the media’s social responsibilities in the light of its role as an agent of social change and a watchdog of democracy. The panelists included A.S. Panneerselvan, Executive Director, Panos South Asia; B.V. Rao, Chief Editor, Governance Now magazine; and Ravi M. Khanna, freelance journalist and media consultant, formerly with the Voice of America. During the discussion and the Q&A that followed, the panelists provided a stark yet constructive appraisal of the state of the Indian media, particularly emphasizing the phenomenon of ‘paid news’, the media’s tendency to focus on ‘soft’ stories that reflect the growing consumer aspirations of India’s middle class, the perception of news as a ‘product’ and the role of the ‘CEO Editor’ in defining the nature and functioning of the media.
 
The second panel focused on alternative media, particularly community radio, video and grassroots newspapers. Chaired by Prof. Vinod Pavarala, Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair on Community Media, the panel discussed the capacity of alternative media to empower rural and marginalized communities along with examples of effective and innovative use of community media. The panelists included Aaditeshwar Seth, co-founder and CEO, Gram Vaani Community Media; Jitender Sharma, Station Head, Kisan Vani Community Radio; Osama Manzar, founder and Director, Digital Empowerment Foundation; and Shalini Joshi, Director of Nirantar, an organization working on education and empowerment of girls and women from marginalized communities and founder of a newspaper produced by rural women.
 
The seminar concluded with an ‘Open House’ chaired by T.K. Arun, Editor, Opinion, The Economic Times.
 
Iskra Panevska, Adviser for Communication and Information for South Asia, UNESCO New Delhi, presented concluding remarks, while Pooja Murada, Director of Communications, IRRAD, presented the vote of thanks.

“This work is very dangerous, I bring one enemy to meet another,” said Ajmal Naqshbandi about his work as a fixer in Afghanistan. This was about six months before he was brutally murdered by the Taliban.

On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, which is celebrated every year on 3 May, the United Nations Information Service Vienna (UNIS) in cooperation with this human world (THW) Film Festival and Topkino, screened the documentary “The Fixer – The Taking of Ajmal Naqshabandi” by Ian Olds and produced by Nancy Roth and Christian Parenti.

Parenti, a journalist with the American weekly journal The Nation, the film kicks off with the kidnapping of Ajmal along with Italian reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo, and their driver Sayed Agha by a Taliban group led by infamous Mullah Dadullah. Mastrogiacomo is released after a few weeks, whereas Naqshbandi’s fate remains unclear, before his beheaded corpse was returned to his relatives. The driver, of no use to the kidnappers, was killed right away.

The hand-held camera recordings show the relationship between Christian Parenti, and his Afghan local fixer, Ajmal Naqshabandi. A fixer is a local person who serves as a translator, someone who bridges cultural differences between the foreigner and his interviewee and who knows how to set up interviews with the people of interest to the foreign journalist.

Christian Parenti had hired Ajmal Naqshbandi as a fixer six months before his Italian colleague did so, and had filmed their trips to remote Taliban ruled areas and improvised interviews with Taliban leaders. Ajmal helps him to discover the country with its corruption and its ever growing insurgency.

The subsequent panel discussion featured the Deputy Editor of Wiener Zeitung Thomas Seifert, the International Press Institute’s (IPI) Press Freedom Manager Barbara Trionfi and UNIS Vienna Director Janos Tisovszky. Having worked with fixers in several war torn countries, Thomas Seifert confirmed the strong relationship which often develops with a fixer. The journalist heavily depends on the fixer’s local understanding, his ability to assess security situations and last but not least his contacts. Asked about how to trust a fixer, Mr. Seifert said that fixers were motivated to do this risky job, primarily by money  but had to build a reputation of trust to get work with incoming journalists.  In the film this becomes evident when Ajmal talks to a friend in his mother tongue, explaining that: "Money matters, because these people don't have friendship. They don't know anything about it. They know you while you're working with them, but after that they don't even recognize you”.

Barbara Trionfi gave an insight into her work as a Press Freedom Manager with IPI. She emphasized the focus the organization puts on advocacy, talking to governments about imprisoned journalists in their countries and how IPI offers security training for journalists.

Both speakers highlighted the importance of speaking out on the issue of the security of journalists, because of the role they play in reporting conflict situations and writing contemporary history. They both spoke with appreciation of the recent UN-systemwide action plan on the security of journalists.
 

The United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Yaounde joined UNESCO and the Ministry of Communication to commemorate the 2013 World Press Freedom Day in an official event organized to mark the Day in Yaounde, on 3 May.

An exposition by media organs in the country, organized on the esplanade of the Ministry of Communication brought together media practitioners, and other actors in the domain, as well as Government  and the UN Officials.

An exhibition by UNIC Yaounde alongside national media organs was the main highlight of the event. UNIC prepared press kits comprised of UN Basic documents, the UN Secretary-General’s message for the Day, the UN Secretary-General/UNESCO joint Statement and other background information on the history of the commemoration, which were distributed to participants at the event. A guided tour of the stands by the Minister and his entourage was one of the highlights of the ceremony, as they had the opportunity to appreciate the rich diversity and dynamism of the Cameroon media landscape, through the different publications and reports displayed by these organs .

Theoccasion was graced by an animation by the CRTV Orchestra, and the speeches were punctuated by musical interludes in an event, which witnessed a huge attendance of Journalists.

The impact of editorial cartooning and the unquestionable, yet subtle, power of the medium was again the subject of a party at UNIC Moscow to mark World Press Freedom Day.

One of the major annual events was organized on 27 April, when UNIC unveiled an exhibition featuring works by leading Russian cartoonists of the “Children of the Absurd” creative group as well as UNIC’s partners Sergei Tiunin and Sergei Elkin. Most of the artists participating were award-winners, and their caricatures appear regularly in Russian and foreign newspapers and magazines.
 
In his opening remarks, the UNIC Director pointed out that political cartooning was a unique and poignant genre which reflects problems and paradoxes of the modern world. He added that artists who satirize the political landscape played a role in forming public opinion, and should be aware of their responsibilities in the field.
 
Speaking after the Director, Ryszard Komenda, Senior Human Rights Advisor to the UN Country Team in Russia, stressed that the freedom of press was one of the most important achievements for society, a kind of barometer letting us know good from evil. The speaker also commented on the innovations brought about by the Internet and social media that make it impossible to prohibit freedom of expression.

Cartoonist Igor Smirnov, member of the Russian Academy of Art, praised the valuable opportunity to celebrate the art of political cartooning. He introduced “Children of the Absurd” to the audience, after which a documentary about one of the group’s new project was screened.

The soirée continued with the announcement of International Jazz Day, as proclaimed by UNESCO. The Director quoted UNESCO’s decision, according to which, jazz had been described as a force for positive social transformation, speaking a language of freedom that is meaningful to all cultures.

In this context, guests enjoyed a musical performance of a jazz group led by Vladimir Frolov.