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Press releases & protests
Conference to examine challenges and opportunities
of new media for press freedom
Washington, DC, February 8, 2007 – What are the technologies and techniques
used by repressive governments to censor news and information on the Internet?
What are some countermeasures -- technological and legal -- that the new media
can use to evade censorship? How can the new media enrich the flow of news and
information around the globe? These and other questions will be discussed at the
conference on New Media: The Press Freedom Dimension, which will take place at
UNESCO headquarters in Paris, 15 and 16 February.
“We are pleased with the overwhelming support of new media experts from nearly all continents, many of whom will share with us during this conference their experiences in evading Internet censorship by repressive governments,” said WPFC’s Executive Director Mark Bench.
World Press Freedom Committee was formed 30 years ago when restrictive
measures that would negatively affect the free flow of information were being
introduced in intergovernmental bodies. Currently, WPFC works to prevent
intergovernmental organizations from approving global restrictions on the press,
to ensure free press values are provided for in the evolution of traditional
media and in new media on the Internet and elsewhere, and to maintain a united
front among leading press freedom organizations to meet threats that develop.
“We know of no other press freedom organization that has these WPFC main
missions as a primary concern,” said Richard N. Winfield, WPFC Chairman. “WPFC
is grateful to the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for its generous grant
which made the Conference a reality,” Winfield added.
Some 150 participants are expected to attend the conference - among them Neil
Budde, the General Manager of Yahoo!, Oh Yeon-Ho, the founder of the Ohmynews
online newspaper, and a wide range of new media and press freedom advocates. The
Conference, organized by the World Press Freedom Committee (WPFC), the World
Association of Newspapers (WAN), and UNESCO, will include nine thematic
sessions:
“New Media -- Expanding Press Freedom,” is the theme of the opening session,
which will feature presentations by Abdul Waheed Khan, Assistant
Director-General of UNESCO for Communication and Information; Richard N.
Winfield, Chairman of the World Press Freedom Committee; Timothy Balding, Chief
Executive Officer of the World Association of Newspapers (WAN); Leslie Harris,
Executive Director of the Center for Democracy and Technology (USA), and Guy
Berger, Head of the Journalism & Media Studies School of Rhodes University
(South Africa).
The following session, “New Media in New Democracies,” will present case
studies with Pauls Raudseps, Editor of the Editorial Page of the Diena daily
(Latvia); Fabricio Altamirano, Publisher of El Diario de Hoy (El Salvador) and
Chairman of the Inter American Press Association’s Internet Committee; Levan
Berdzenishvilli, Member of the Georgian Parliament and an internet specialist;
Elizabeth Barrat, Executive Editor for Multimedia and Training at The
Johannesburg Star and General Secretary of the African Editors Forum; and Albert
Rudatsimbura Byron of Contact FM (Rwanda). The session will be chaired by Johann
Fritz, Director of the International Press Institute.
“New Media Under Challenge,” with presentations by Soe Myint Editor of
Mizzima online news service (Burma); Sharon Hom, Director of the international
non-governmental organization Human Rights in China; Karin Deutsch Karlekar,
Managing Editor of the Freedom of the Press Survey at the U.S.-based NGO,
Freedom House; and Anton Nosik, Chief Blogs Officer, LiveJournal.com, SUP
(Russia). The session will be chaired by Abi Wright, Communications Director of
the international NGO, the Committee to Protect Journalists.
A session on “Direct Satellite Broadcasting/Digital TV/Public Service
Broadcasting - Opportunities for Diversity,” will feature Imad el Atrache of Al
Jazeera; Saad Mohseni of Tolo TV (Afghanistan); Boris Bergant of RTV (Slovenia);
Jean Lesieur, Deputy Editor of France 24 international network; and Alfonso Ruiz
de Assin, President of the International Association of Broadcasting. The
session will be chaired by Henrikas Yushkiavitshus, former UNESCO Assistant
Director General and former Vice Chairman of Gostelradio (Russia).
Participants in the “News Online,” session will be: Sankarshan Thakur,
Executive Editor of the Tehelka online newspaper (India); Neil Budde, General
Manager of Yahoo!, Rosental Alves, Director of the Knight Center for Journalism
(USA); Nora Paul, Director of the Institute for New Media Studies at the
University of Minnesota (USA), Sawaan Zaidah, Editor-in-Chief of AmmanNet Radio
(Jordan); and Monique Villa, Managing Director, of Reuters Media. The session
will be chaired by Mogens Schmidt, Director of the UNESCO Division of Freedom of
Expression, Democracy and Peace.
“How Young People Get Their News,” will feature the participation of Chris
Schuepp, Coordinator, Young People’s Media Network, UNICEF; Roxana Morduchowicz,
Director of Media Education, of the Argentinean Education Ministry; Evelyne
Bevort, Associate Director of the Centre de Liaison de l’Enseignement et des
Moyens d’Information (France), and Robert Barnard, Founder and Partner, of the
research firm D-Code (Canada). Aralynn McMane, Director of Young Readership
Development for WAN, will chair the session.
“Bloggers as Journalists/Local News and New Media/Citizen Media,” will bring
together Oh Yeon-Ho, Founder of Ohmynews online newspaper (Republic of Korea);
Steve Yelvington, Vice President of Morris Digital Works (USA); Karma Tshering
Bhutia, Research Coordinator for Community Multimedia Centres (Nepal); Declan
McCullagh, Senior Writer for CNET News.com (USA); and Ehab Elzelaky, Blog Editor
at the Al Dustour weekly (Egypt). The Chair will be Mary Lou Fulton, Vice
President of Audience Development at The Bakersfield Californian newspaper in
the (USA).
“Circumventing the Censors,” will feature presentations by David Banisar,
Deputy Director of Privacy International; Gerry Jackson, Founder and Station
Manager of the independent Zimbabwean radio SW Radio Africa; Omar Faruk Osman,
General Secretary of the National Union of Somali Journalists; and Leonard
Sussman, Senior Scholar for Freedom House. The Chair will Julien Pain, Head of
the Internet Freedom desk, of the NGO Reporters Without Borders.
Abdul Waheed Khan, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Communication and
Information; Gary Kebbel, Journalism Program Officer at the John S. and James L.
Knight Foundation; and William Orme, Policy Advisor, Independent Media
Development, UN Development Programme will be the speakers for the final session
of the Conference.
The conference is supported by the The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the World Editors Forum, and the Global Coordinating Committee of Press Freedom Organizations (which includes, in addition to WAN and WPFC, the Committee to Protect Journalists; Commonwealth Press Union; Inter American Press Association; International Association of Broadcasting; International Association of the Periodical Press (FIPP); International Press Institute; and the North American Broadcasters Association).
*****
Journalists wishing to attend the conference should contact
UNESCO’s press service:
Isabelle Le Fournis +33 (0) 45 68 17 48 i.le-fournis@unesco.org
*****
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