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UK Section |
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World Press Freedom Day |
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The UK Section of the AEJ is part of the UK Press Freedom Network of 20 journalistic and human rights bodies. Each year it supports the UNESCO UK National Commission by staging a public debate to mark World Press Freedom Day on 3 May. UNESCO's website contains further information about the Day, as does its UK website. AEJ national sections all mark World Press Freedom Day
with meetings and events. Europe-wide information about these is available on
the international AEJ website. See also AEJ 2008 A journalism
prize to honour a person, organisation
or institution that has made a notable contribution to media freedom,
especially if this involved risk, is awarded each year by UNESCO
at its annual WPFD event. In the UK, a separate prize for student journalists – the John Ivinson Memorial Prize for Freedom of Expression – is awarded to mark the day by UNESCO's UK National Commission. |
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2009 debate Video of the debate in full (Frontline Club) Truth in the media is a casualty of war Journalists in London voted by more than two to one for the motion that "Governments at war are winning the battle of controlling the international media". The debate at the Frontline Club on 1 May, moderated by AEJ UK chairman William Horsley, included a frank account by senior NATO official Dr Jamie Shea of how western governments managed to set the agenda for what journalists reported in the 1999 Kosovo war. Conflicts in Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Gaza, Sudan, Congo and Russia-Georgia were also cited in the debate. Speaking for the motion were Andrew Gilligan, Evening Standard, and Jamie Shea, NATO.
Opposing it were Alan Fisher, Al Jazeera, and Jeremy Dear, NUJ.
Read a full account of the debate by journalist Nicholas Jones on SpinWatch. Accounts by Annabel Symington, winner of the 2009 student journalism prize, and Tim Unwin are also available online. 2008 debate Video
of the debate in full (Frontline Club)
The topic for debate was "New Media is Killing Journalism". It was held at the Frontline Club on 2 May. Andrew Keen and Kim Fletcher spoke for the motion, and Robin Lustig and Nazenin Ansari against. William Horsley took the chair. The uncertainty that the profession faces due to the economics of online publication was a recurring theme throughout the wide-ranging and at times impassioned discussion. In the end, faith in the survival of journalism and its values triumphed. The motion was defeated by more than three to one (13 to 45 with four abstentions). Two of the speakers – Nazenin Ansari and Andrew Keen – filed contributions to Guardian Online, and Andrew Keen's "I came to bury journalists but in the end I could only praise them" was published in The Independent on 19 May 2008. 2007 debate The motion “World Media Freedom is in Retreat” was endorsed by 57 votes in favour of the motion to 18 against. The vote reflected concerns about new restrictive laws on the media in many countries and the growing numbers of journalists worldwide who have been killed, injured, threatened or jailed because of their profession. |
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World
Press Freedom Day OTHER PAGES Press
Coverage of the Media Freedom Survey |
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