UK SECTION

 

The AEJ is active across the continent of Europe. Please visit its website, www.aej.org, and check AEJ Newsletters for information about what it is doing for its members

 

 

Lunchtime meetings

 

17 February 2012

HE Mr Ünal Çeviköz

  Turkish Ambassador to the UK

 

Meetings are usually held at the European Parliament’s London Office (Europe House, 32 Smith Square, SW1). The EP’s UK website gives details of its own events, of which visitors may be notified by email.

 

You can see a list of our recent lunchtime guests in Past Events

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UN Guide to Article 19

 

Professor Michael O’Flaherty, Deputy Chair of the UN Human Rights Committee and Commissioner for Human Rights in Northern Ireland, met members of the section on 19 January.

 

He reported that the HRC’s definitive exposition on article 19 of the International Covenant has been published as “General Comment 34”. He had given a speech in June outlining its main findings at the Vilnius Conference on the safety of journalists (below).

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NEW: OSCE Guidebook on Journalists’ Safety

 

William Horsley, the AEJ UK Chairman and International Director of the Centre for Freedom of the Media, University of Sheffield, has authored the Guidebook on Safety of Journalists for the 56 states of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It was presented at the OSCE Ministerial Council in Vilnius on 5 December 2011 by the Lithuanian Foreign Minister, Andronius Ažubalis, and the OSCE’s Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović.

 

Mr Ažubalis said of the Guidebook: “I commend it to every person, institution and government body concerned with the free expression of the media, and the freedom of citizens to have access to public information and knowledge, not just in the OSCE area, but throughout the world.”

 

The Guidebook sets out the obligations of OSCE participating states regarding all aspects of the safety of journalists, and describes best practice for protecting press freedom and freedom of expression in democratic societies.

 

Separately, the AEJ has called on the 56 OSCE governments to ratify the Vilnius Recommendations. These were debated at a conference on the safety of journalists organised by the current OSCE chair, Lithuania, on 7-8 June. For further information, see the AEJ Media Freedom Representative's report and the Media Freedom page.

 

This work is supported by the Initiative on Impunity and the Rule of Law to establish the legal and political framework needed to ensure that those who attack journalists are investigated, prosecuted and punished. See Media Freedom (12 November 2011)

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BBC WORLD SERVICE

Please sign the petition to save the BBC World Service from funding cuts

·      Report of the NUJ's 15 March meeting

·      Minister on the "possibility" of more funds

·      Letter from Andrew Tyrie MP, Chairman of the Commons Treasury Committee, to the Foreign Secretary

·      Comment by AEJ member Richard Heller

FCO announcement on 22 June of an extra £2.2m a year for the World Service to "maintain the current level of investment in the BBC Arabic Service"

 

 

International AEJ Congress 2011

Last year's annual congress was held in Bucharest on 10-12 November. The UK Section joins other sections in thanking the Romanian Section for organising a highly successful and memorable event. The theme of the congress was “Freedom and Responsibility in the Mass Media” (see AEJ in Europe). For a visual record, see Photo Gallery: Bucharest 2011.

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About us

 

The AEJ is an independent, self-funding association for journalists, writers and specialists in European affairs. The UK section is part of a Europe-wide network of some 20 national sections across Europe, with more than 1000 members in all.

 

In the UK section, we arrange for leading newsmakers from across Europe to give briefings to us about once a month, over lunch at the office of the European Parliament in London. We also organise special events, such as seminars, from time to time.

 

The AEJ offers journalists the chance to be part of a network of media professionals and experts on European issues. Membership can provide valuable mutual support for individual journalists (it is open to both UK and non-UK nationals). If you would like to join, please go to the Membership page.

 

We are not tied to any institutional or political group but are recognised by the Council of Europe, the OSCE and UNESCO. Our goals are to advance knowledge and debate on European affairs and to uphold media freedom.

 

Internationally, the AEJ has an active programme of professional activities and the annual AEJ Congress is a forum for debate on matters of common concern to journalists across the continent. A high priority is given to the AEJ's Media Freedom Project.

 

 

AEJ Media Freedom Project

 

The AEJ plays an international role in promoting the protection of freedom of expression and journalism through its Media Freedom Representative, William Horsley (also Chairman of the UK section).

 

In 2008, we were granted observer status at the Council of Europe's Steering Committee on the Media and New Communication Services (CDMC). This allows the AEJ to take part in the Council of Europe's policy-making deliberations on a wide range of issues and to raise all problems faced by journalists with Europe's watchdog for freedom of expession and human rights.

 

William Horsley is active at both the CoE Committee and its working group on the impact of anti-terrorism and state security laws on freedom of expression. He does so in parallel with representatives of bodies such as the IFJ, the IPI, Article 19 and Reporters without Borders.

 

On 26 October 2009, he presented a report to the Council of Europe revealing that 20 journalists were killed in the past three years in Europe and that violence, repressive laws and political interference continue to plague the media.

 

At present, the AEJ has two points of focus: the CoE members' promise in 2009 to review their anti-terrorism laws so that they do not block legitimate freedom of expression, and the compilation of a database of violations of the Indicators for Media in a Democracy.

 

The AEJ Media Freedom Network is made up of committed members in all national sections. Projects on selected topics and themes are followed up at AEJ meetings and debates at the annual congress.

 

The Project's first achievement was the AEJ Media Freedom Survey. It was published to considerable acclaim at the 2007 Dublin Congress and was supplemented by two further reports in 2008.

 

AEJ and the Council of Europe

 

The AEJ is an official Observer at the Council of Europe's Media Steering Committee.

 

We are working with the CoE, alongside other media and human rights bodies, on a new project to compile a database of information about serious violations of media freedom by states. It is intended to chart breaches of the CoE's Indicators for Media in a Democracy. These include violence and wrongful police action against journalists, significant editorial interference, discrimination and lack of reasonable access to information.

 

The database may be presented to CoE foreign ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly, the European Court of Human Rights and others, and made accessible on a CoE website.

 

A working group has also been set up to focus on how CoE members are honouring the pledge they made in 2009 to review their anti-terrorism laws for compliance with article 10 of the ECHR. It appears that few, if any, have done so. For the texts, see the civil society statement and p.11 of the CoE ministers' resolution.

 

See Media Freedom Report 2011

 

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