cherry ann lim - the cebu declaration and other initiatives to improve media safety - manila 14 oct...

8/3/2019 Cherry Ann Lim - The Cebu Declaration and other initiatives to improve media safety - Manila 14 Oct 2011

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Cebu Citizens-Press Council

REGIONAL MEDIA CONFERENCE

FOR SOUTHEAST AND EAST ASIA

Reporting on Violence

and EmergenciesThe Heritage Hotel Manila

October 13-14, 2011


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Cebu DeclarationA call to action for the protection

of journalists in the Philippines

Cebu Citizens-Press CouncilNon-stock, non-profit organization

dealing with media issues


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Background

Philippines Second most dangerous country

for journalists, next to Iraq. (Ranking by InternationalFederation of Journalists)

Since 1986, some 140 journalists and media staff

have been killed in the Philippines.

Culture of impunity Killers and masterminds

are rarely apprehended; get away scot-free.


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Complications

Armed conflict and extra-judicial killings

Journalists in small towns, cities are most vulnerable,

having little or no access to support groups.

Targeted by powerful clans, politicians or individuals

stung by their stories, or caught in the cross-fire

Mostly underpaid, working with scant resources;

vulnerable to coercion.


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Nov. 23, 2009 In Ampatuan town,

Maguindanao, 32

media practitioners

were killed in the

single largest attack

on journalists

in history.


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Victims were among 58 people killed

Convoy to file a certificate of candidacy for

Buluan town vice mayor Esmael Mangudadatu,

who was challenging Datu Unsay mayor

Andal Ampatuan Jr. for the post of Maguindanao

governor in the 2010 election.


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1st anniversary

of Maguindanao

Massacre

Conference brought

forward a collectivecall to action for the

protection of

journalists.


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104 participants

from media outfits,civil society groups

and the academe

from all over PHL

Marcelo B. Fernan

Cebu Press Center,

Nov. 23, 2010


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Preamble:

In a democracy like the Philippines, the people

have the right to information so they can participate wisely

in governance. It is the role and the duty of the press orthe mass media to provide accurate information to the

people so that the latter can make better decisions. But in

order to perform that duty, the press must be free and

responsible. We note, however, that in the Philippines the

press has been hampered in the performance of this dutybecause of the killings of journalists.

CEBU DECLARATION


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CEBU DECLARATION

Preamble:

We, the 104 delegates to the 1st Media Conference

on the Protection of Journalists, in commemoration

of the first anniversary of the Maguindanao Massacre,lament the unsolved killings of more than 130

journalists and media workers while performing their

duties in the Philippines between 1986 and 2010.


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We deplore:

Government inaction and the culture of impunity

which gives rise to the continuing physical, verbal, sexual

harassment, attacks on and killings of journalists andmedia workers in the country;

We assert:

The protection of journalists is paramount as the free andindependent practice of their profession ensures the

protection, promotion and fulfillment of the democratic

rights of the people especially their right to know, to speak

and be heard;

CEBU DECLARATION


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Therefore we declare:

1. The State, with all its agencies and instrumentalities, is

primarily responsible for the safety of all citizens, including

the news media. It must also immediatelyact to end the culture of impunity where innocent civilians,

including journalists and media workers, are killed and to

observe in letter and in spirit United Nations Security

Council Resolution 1738 of 2006 on the safety of

journalists in conflict situations, the Geneva Conventions

and all its protocols, and all local and national laws

pertaining to the protection of its citizens;

CEBU DECLARATION


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CEBU DECLARATION


2. News organizations should develop, implement and

institutionalize Duty of Care for all news personnel

they engage and provide appropriate safety, first aid, andtrauma training, equipment, and insurance or other

financial provision for death or disability when they cover

dangerous stories such as wars and other forms of

conflict, crime and corruption, natural and human-induced

disasters, and health emergencies. Such provisions must

be non-discriminatory and cover staff, freelancers,

stringers, media support staff, talents, and other contract

workers;


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3. Journalists, media owners, press groups or

associations, and media development organizations

should discuss and agree on appropriate and acceptableoperational procedures governing safety, first aid, trauma,

and post-trauma stress management of media workers

and journalists. The media organizations should set aside

competition where the lives of journalists, media workers

and civilians are in danger and if and when necessary

collaborate with state security and disaster response

management agencies;

CEBU DECLARATION


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4. Media development organizations must endeavor

to promote safety training in their programs for journalists

and media workers. Likewise, they must extendassistance to smaller news organizations that lack

resources to provide adequate protection for their staff,

correspondents, and stringers;

CEBU DECLARATION


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CEBU DECLARATION


5. While news organizations must bear the cost

of safety care for their news staff, freelancers,

stringers and media workers, community vigilanceand civic engagement are also needed to safeguard

the peoples right to information;


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6. Journalists, media workers, and freelancers

should help ensure each others safety

in hostile environments;


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CEBU DECLARATION


7. The academe, specifically journalism and

communication schools, and media organizations

must intensify media-academe cooperation programsto better prepare students, journalism trainees and

would-be journalists before they enter real-world

journalism;


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CEBU DECLARATION


8. Journalists, media workers, and freelancers

must also work together through the exchange

of ideas and experiences in employingconflict-sensitive reporting especially when covering

situations of crisis and violence;


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CEBU DECLARATION


9. Journalists and news organizations must

continuously adhere to responsible, ethical,

and quality reporting in orderto enhancemedia-citizen engagement, thereby ensuring

a safe environment for journalism practice;


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CEBU DECLARATION


10. Journalists must further professionalize their craft

by working to attain a system of standards which

ethically balance news coverage and reporting for thepeople they serve and, eventually, to explore the

concept of accreditation for the practice of journalism,

and


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CEBU DECLARATION


11. News organizations, media development

organizations, and journalists are encouraged

to build solidarity within the media.


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CEBU DECLARATION

In conclusion:

The conference further agrees to continue follow-up

actions in relation to the points raised by this

Declaration and to provide updates to the conference

organizers, International News Safety Institute, Peace

and Conflict Journalism Network, and Center for

Community Journalism and Development, about these

actions, in partnership with other organizations or

individually. The Declaration and subsequent actions willbe sent to the UN Secretary General for the annual

review of the safety or journalists under the terms of UN

Resolution 1738.


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CCPC has

15 members:

7 Media

2 Semi-media

6 Public

Cebu Citizens-Press Council


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Purpose of the CCPC

1. It is a forum for media issues.

- It discusses subjects of interest to media practitioners

(especially those affecting press freedom) and adds

its voice to those of others to help shape public opinion

and policy on controversial matters.

- It engages the various sectors of society in dialogue,

so they understand the workings of media.


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Dialogues

- Men in uniform

- Judges

- Prosecutors- Govt officials

- Religious groups

- Civil society

- Businessmen- Public information

officers


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Purpose of the CCPC

2. It is a forum for airing grievance.

By providing an added means of redress for aggrievednews subjects, it hopes to discourage lawsuits and

violence against journalists.

It entertains two types of complaints:

- Right of reply

- Accuracy


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What CCPChas done


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CCPC produced a safety brochure:

Covering disasters, civil disorders,

and public health emergencies;

and dealing with threats of search,

arrest or death. [2009]

Brochure


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Documentaries

2008

20062007

CCPC & Cebu Press Freedom Week Inc. produced:

2010


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Through the Cebu Media Legal Aid (Cemla),

a group of volunteer lawyers organized under

the auspices of the Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC),

we condemn the harassment and killing of journalists.

We make a lot of noise.

Cemla


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Opened Cebu

Journalism & Journalists

media gallery [2010]

Worked with Cebu City

Govt to have the marker

of Cebus first post-war

press freedom martyr,reinstalled on Borromeo St.,

Cebu City. [2010]

CJJ gallery, marker


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Thats all, folks!

cherry ann lim - the cebu declaration and other initiatives to improve media safety - manila 14 oct...

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