During the conference “News Organizations Standing Up for the Safety of Media Professionals”, held on 5 February 2016, close to 300 media leaders and representatives of Member States from every region in the world gathered at UNESCO Headquarters. They shared good newsroom practices and experiences to improve the safety of journalists and end impunity towards crimes committed against media professionals. Solutions were put forward to respond to the emerging dangers and threats that are affecting the lives of journalists worldwide.
In this video, three of the participants speak about their direct experiences with dangers and threats against journalists. Jesus Dureza, Publisher of the Mindanao Times and President of the Philippine Press Institute, shares examples of these threats and stresses the need for global cooperation of all actors involved in media. Hassan Ali Gesey discusses the challenges of his daily professional life as a radio director in Somalia, and Abeer Saady from Egypt experiences the issues from both sides: she is a journalist in the Middle-East, and also trains journalists on how to protect themselves when reporting in dangerous areas.
The UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, led by UNESCO, served as framework for the conference. The UN Plan recognizes that journalists’ safety needs a multi-stakeholder approach, and it identifies news organizations as one of the major stakeholders in improving the safety of journalists.
Copyright: photos from Abeer Saady and video material in Somalia from Hassan Ali Gesey.
