Across the globe, journalism has become very dangerous and it is time for us to use our audiences and platforms to get the world to listen and change the horrible statistics:
- Every five days a journalist is killed.
- Imprisonments of journalists are at a record high.
- Journalists around the world deal with harassment and intimidation on a regular basis.
- Local journalists are most at risk but the violence against them is seldom reported on.
And the list of violent acts against your colleagues because of their reporting continues.
This is unacceptable! Journalism makes a difference! Journalism is a pillar of democracy; it assists in social accountability and stimulates public debate. Journalism provides space for dissenting opinions and is a medicine against censorship. Safety of journalists is a precondition for good journalism that serves the societies and audiences. Without safety for journalists the public would be deprived of reliable information.
The public and the government should protect journalists and media workers. But, in spite of all the international declarations and resolutions about the obligation of states to protect journalists not much has changed in the last decade.
The violence against the profession continues. And on top of that we see a rise in attacks on the media by political leaders who do not respect the critical function of journalism, unless it serves their interests.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
It is time for us to take matters into our own hands. Now more than ever.
We believe solidarity within the media community can prove crucial in ghting the impunity that has prevailed for too long.
This is why we hereby pledge to engage our audiences and ask them to help put pressure on institutions, media actors, governments, publishing houses and others that demonize journalists and legitimize harm against them.
We do so by committing to:
- speak out on the importance of the protection of our profession;
- tell the stories of the violence experienced by our colleagues across the globe;
- point out how attacks against journalists affect society at large in our coverage;
- highlight governments’ obligation to ensure journalists are able to work freely and without fear of repercussion;
- and continue to do so when the institutions fail to prosecute the perpetrators of the violence against our colleagues;
- cover the causal links between violence against journalists and the impunity behind the great majority of the attacks;
- hold governments and institutions accountable, when they fail to prosecute the perpetrators of the violence against our colleagues.
Signatories
Organisations and networks
- Free Press Unlimited
- ACOS Alliance
- Alliance of broadcasters, Georgia
- Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ)
- Article 19
- Association of Journalists at the International Criminal Court (AJICC-AJCPI)
- Awene Press & Publishing Co., Kurdistan region of Iraq
- Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC)
- Bytes For All, Pakistan
- Carlos Cardenas, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TV Cultura, Peru
- Caucasian Knot, Russian Federation
- Committee to Protect Journalists
- Dave Callaway, President WAN-IFRA’s World Editors Forum
- De Balie (Debate Centre), the Netherlands
- De Humo TV, Nicaragua
- Digital Rights Foundation, Pakistan
- Dutch Commission for Journalistic Source Protection, the Netherlands
- European Journalism Centre (EJC)
- European Radio, Belarus
- Fédération des Radios de Proximité du Congo (FRPC)
- Fidan Ekiz, journalist
- Freedom Forum, Nepal
- Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa (FLIP), Colombia
- Genootschap van Hoofdredacteuren (Dutch Society of editors-in-Chief), the Netherlands
- Global Forum for Media Development
- Hromadske TV, Ukraine
- Huub Jaspers, editor-in-chief Argos, VPRO Broadcasting
- International Media Support
- International Press Institute (IPI)
- Internews
- Iraq Civil Society Solidarity Initiative (ICSSI)
- Iraqi Journalists Rights Defense Association (IJRDA)
- Jeremy Druker, Executive Director and Editor in Chief Transitions (TOL)
- JAM News, Georgia
- Journalism department of Tbilisi state university, Georgia
- Journaliste En Danger (JED), DRC
- KBR, Indonesia
- Meydan TV, Azerbaijan
- Nederlandse Vereniging van Journalisten (Dutch Association of Journalists), the Netherlands
- Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ)
- Newsgain, Denmark
- Nómada.gt, Guatemala
- Novaya Gazeta, Russian Federation
- Okke Ornstein, journalist
- OneWorld Magazine, the Netherlands
- Pakistan Press Foundation
- Radio La Benevolencija, the Netherlands
- RNW media, the Netherlands
- Ronald Gijsbertsen
- Sanne Terlingen, journalist
- Susan Angle, Media4Democracy
- Teun Gautier, De Coöperatie, the Netherlands
- Tempo Media Group, Indonesia
- The Zimbabwean
- Tok TV, Georgia
- Tribal News Network, Pakistan
- Uganda Media Development Foundation
- Vereniging van Onderzoeksjournalisten (Association of Investigative Journalists), the Netherlands
- VPRO Broadcasting, the Netherlands
- Ziarul de Garda, Moldova
