"Reporting and Under-reporting: Who Decides?"
May 3rd is dedicated to World Press Freedom, a day to remember and stress the importance of free press in a free society.
Highlighting World Press Freedom Day, the Committee on Information dedicated its morning session of work on 3 May to the Day with a two-part event:
- an opening segment with statements by the UN Secretary-General, the Chairman of the Committee on Information, the Director of UNESCO Liaison Office in New York and the President of the United Nations Correspondents Association, and
- a panel discussion "Reporting and Under-reporting: Who Decides?" with participants representing the media, non-governmental organizations and the United Nations. They will speak on the role and responsibilities of the world media in covering global issues and examine whether it is perception of audience interest, commercial considerations, lack of resources or other reasons that determine editorial choices and the extent of news coverage.
Following the event, there was a screening of Jonathan Demme's film "The Agronomist". The film tells the story of a Haitian journalist, Jean Dominique, who became a national hero for championing the cause of Haiti's poor and powerless. As owner and operator of his nation's first independent radio station, Radio Haiti-Inter, Dominique fought tirelessly for press freedom and democracy. He was assassinated in April 2000.