ITV

Tag: IFJ

  • Make discussion on Broadcast Bill more inclusive: IFJ

    NEW DELHI: The International Federation of Journalists has urged the Indian government to hold more inclusive consultations and recognise the legitimate interests of journalists in the process of the proposed Broadcast Services Regulation Bill and the Content Code.

    This was stated in a memorandum submitted with the endorsement of the National Union of Journalists (India) an IFJ affiliate, and two local unions from Mumbai and Delhi.

    “We understand that the most recent draft of the Broadcast Bill that has been circulated for public debate is the fourth in a decade”, said IFJ Asia Pacific Director Jacqueline Park. “That its future is still uncertain, speaks of a failure of consensus-building around the purported aims of broadcast law reform”.

    The IFJ has been advised by affiliates and other like-minded organisations in India that the Broadcast Services Regulation Bill in its most recent version is not dissimilar to a draft that was introduced, discussed and abandoned last year. The only respect in which the current legislative proposals differ from those of 2006 is in the introduction of a set of “guidelines” for broadcasters, or a “content code”.

    “While we can appreciate a regulatory regime that seeks to curtail cross-media ownership and ensure that the broadcast spectrum is preserved as a public resource, we do not see the utility of regulating content,” said Park.

    The IFJ has learnt through its affiliates that the Indian Penal Code as it now exists is adequate to deal with instances of gross abuse of media autonomy. Competent legal opinion has held that there is no basis for the prior restraint of the right to free speech, since the punitive powers available are sufficient to sanction all offences post facto.

    “In the circumstances,” said Park, “the purpose of broadcast law reform should be little less than to give effect to the historic judgment of the Indian Supreme Court, that the airwaves are a public resource, which should be allocated in accordance with a broad definition of public interest.”

    The IFJ, in consultation with affiliated unions and other civil society groups, would like to urge the Indian government to broaden its consultations and to explicitly grant the demand of the professional community of journalists, to be heard in the process of broadcast law reform.

  • Provide security to media persons: IFJ tells Pak govt

    NEW DELHI: “The current heated political climate in Pakistan has created a hazardous environment for journalists who are often, unfortunately, the ones caught in the frontline,” the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has said.

    Expressing concern over journalist safety in Pakistan after four journalists were injured in a suicide bomb attack aimed at Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao in the north-western district of Charsadda on April 28, IFJ President Christopher Warren “this incident highlights the dangers that face journalists in Pakistan .”

    “The IFJ once again calls on the government of Pakistan to take immediate, concrete steps to provide adequate protections for journalists.

    The four journalists among the 28 persons injured are: TV cameraman Arif Yousafzai, ‘Subah’ newspaper reporter Siddiqullah, Ayaz Muhammad of the Associated Press of Pakistan, and Press Information Department photographer Arshad Ali.

    “There are real concerns for the safety of journalists and other media workers in Pakistan,” said Warren. The IFJ represents more than 500,000 journalists in over 115 countries.

  • World Copyright Day – Give Journalists Rights to Control Their Work: IFJ

    NEW DELHI: The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today said “Authors’ rights are essential to the quality of journalism and to the future of our profession. They provide vital income for a journalist and they help the defence of professional ethics,”.

    On April 23, which has been nominated by the United Nations World Copyright Day, the Federation gave a new call for lawmakers and governments to protect journalists’ rights to own and control their work.

    IFJ General Secretary Aidan White said “They play a crucial role in developing and maintaining a free press and democracy.”

    He regretted that publishers had in recent years sought to grab control of all rights of journalists in order to exploit new technologies that allow them to recycle and reuse the work of journalists across different platforms.

    The IFJ reiterated its demand for protection of these rights to ensure that journalists do not lose out in the rush to develop new media markets and also to highlight the link between rights protection and the sustainable creation of diverse high-quality media content that meets ethical standards.

    The IFJ has issued a checklist of guiding principles for authors’ rights protection:

    * All journalistic works – whether text, photo, audiovisual or other – must be protected and all creators of journalistic works must be recognised as authors whether freelances, employed, or work for hire or on contract.

    * All journalists must have full economic rights – based on an exclusive rights to authorise the making available, publication or broadcast of their work.

    * All journalists must have moral rights – the right to be named as the author and the right of integrity – and these rights must be unwaivable.

    * All forced legal transfer of authors’ rights of use (work-for-hire clauses and similar rules) must be abolished for staff and freelance authors alike.

    * All authors must be given protection against undue pressure to enter into unfair contacts following individual negotiations, and be guaranteed equitable remuneration.

    * All staff and freelances must also have the right of collective bargaining regarding authors rights of use (collective negotiations need not be subject to special protection)

    *Legislation that supports rights clearance through collective rights management societies and collective licensing should be upheld where it exists and introduced where it does not and is appropriate.

  • ‘Disturbing’ comments from Lankan government, even as one more scribe disappears

    ‘Disturbing’ comments from Lankan government, even as one more scribe disappears

    NEW DELHI: Following reports of the disappearance of another journalist, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has expressed its growing concern over the worsening situation in Sri Lanka, particularly in view of the ‘disturbing statements on the state of the media’ by the government.

    According to IFJ affiliate the Free Media Movement (FMM), Subramaniam Ramachandran, a correspondent for the dailies Yarl Thinakkural and Valampuri, has been missing from the disturbed northern peninsula Jaffna since 15 February, when he did not return home from work.

    “The IFJ has grave fears for the safety of Ramachandran, who has been missing now for more than 11 days, especially in the light of the shocking situation in Jaffna where abductions and retaliatory killings occur all too regularly,” IFJ President Christopher Warren said. The IFJ represents 500,000 journalists in more than 115 countries.

    According to the FMM, 802 persons have disappeared in Jaffna peninsula since January 2005, and 15 people have been gunned down by unknown assailants and nine have been abducted in February alone.

    The IFJ has joined the FMM and four other journalists’ organisations – the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association, the Federation of Media Employees Trade Union, the Sri Lanka Muslim Media Foundation and the Sri Lanka Tamil Journalists Alliance – in condemning statements from the Sri Lankan Environment and Natural Resources Minister Champika Ranawaka, which basically advocated brutal suppression of democratic dissent, and the use of extra-judicial methods if necessary.

    According to the journalists’ organisations, the Minister in a statement in Sinhala to the Ravaya newspaper on the February 18 said: “People will die, what can we do about it. Are you asking us to leave those alive? Those bastards are traitors. We can’t do any thing because of wild donkey freedom in this country, if those can’t be dealt with existing laws we know how to do it. If we can’t suppress those bastards with the law we need to use any other ways and means.”

    The IFJ president said: “We are frankly speechless that a minister of government, who reportedly is in close contact with the president, could publicly show such total disrespect for human rights and blatantly disown all democratic principles.”

    According to the five organisations, the minister has identified many prominent human rights activists, journalists and civil society leaders as terrorists in the past.

    “This is really going too far. We echo the demands from the Sri Lankan journalists’ organisations, for clarification from the government on what is essentially hate speech from a member of parliament,” Warren said.

    Furthermore, the IFJ is shocked by comments from President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) on 10 February, indicating he provided television and radio licenses to the JVP (People’s Liberation Front) to recognise the support they provided during his election campaign.

    “For a head of state to say something as irresponsible and compromising as this, is a further indication of the Sri Lankan government’s retreat from democracy,” Warren said.

    The FMM has written to the Ministry of Defence demanding an amendment to an article published on its website on 9 February which gave false and misleading information about the journalists’ organisation.

    The FMM first contacted the Ministry on 12 February asking for their immediate action, and again on 19 February, regarding a story written by Walter Jayawardhana, which incorrectly indicated the organisation had requested the release of three arrested journalists, who worked for the trade union publication Akuna, and were organising a protest campaign for their freedom.

    The website also contained an archived photo which bore no relation to the article and portrayed the FMM in a misleading manner.

    “The IFJ supports the FMM in its attempts to gain a retraction from the ministry; the article is incorrect and could potentially be used to disparage the organisation and its members,” Warren said.

  • IFJ Protests Ulfa threat to journalists over reports of ‘secret deal’ with Assam government

    NEW DELHI: The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned threats from the outlawed United Liberation front of Assam (Ulfa) to the privately-owned satellite channel North East Television (NETV) after it reported that the group and the government in Assam may have links and warned that authorities must not join forces with the group to intimidate media.
    NETV, the only private satellite channel in Northeast India, said the outlawed terrorist outfit ULFA told station director Manoranjana Sinh to prove allegations that the group is working with the government or stop broadcasting and to leave Assam or “face dire consequences.” Government officials have also criticised the channel’s reports.
    “It is a shocking that NETV has been threatened by a militant group for its stories and the government has done nothing about it except criticise the station as well,” said IFJ General Secretary Aidan White. “The government should be protecting independent reporting in general and NETV in particular, not joining forces with ULFA to intimidate media.”
    The IFJ says there are legal procedures for libel if the government believes that NETV has been untruthful, but it should not allow militant groups to threaten media over stories it does not like.
    The threats from ULFA came just a day after Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi publicly criticised NETV and said in general the media is producing anti–establishment news. The criticism was spurred by NETV’s reports that the Assam government had paid money to buy a truce with ULFA for the smooth conduct of the National Games scheduled to be held in the region from 9 to 18 February.
    Observers believe those reports may have prompted the government to enlist ULFA to threaten media outlets, including NETV. According to press reports, the ULFA commander-in-chief has threatened that NETV must either prove the veracity of reports that the Assam government had paid money to buy peace with ULFA, withdraw its reports or leave Assam immediately.
    The IFJ is calling on the government to intervene to stop the harrassment and threats against NETV and its staff and to ensure that all media in the region are able to report independently.
    This is not the first case of official pressure on NETV, which has upset government officials in the past with its reporting. A few months ago, the state government of Assam ransacked the offices of the channel. The Congress Youth Wing president has also criticised the channel, asking it to withdraw stories clearly established several legitimate cases of land-grabbing for which the Youth Wing President was responsible.
    “If the government is using ULFA and threats of violence to suppress reporting that it does not like, it will set a terrible precedent for press freedom in the region,” White said. “The Assam government must act quickly to prevent this situation from dealing a serious blow to press freedom in India.”