Live News - A Survival Guide - International Federation of Journalists

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CHAPTER 7Fighting back: What the IFJ and journalists’organisations can doNepal journalistsrely on unityTraining was delivered inNepal to help journalists whohave been facing a state ofemergency since November2001.More than 150 journalistshave been arrested and manyhave been tortured orphysically abused. Journalistshave also been targeted byMaoist rebels. Three werekilled in 2002.The struggle against bothlegal and brutal censorshiphas been spearheaded by theFederation of NepaleseJournalists (FNL) through aunified front of all journalists’organisations. Strikes anddemonstrations have beenjointly organised and dialogueopened with the Governmenton press freedom andjournalists’ rights, thanks tothis unity.FIRST COURSE IN 24 YEARSAS A JOURNALIST“I have been a journalist for 24years. For the past two years Ihave been working as an NGO.During those two years I haveattended 12 seminars. In my 24years as a journalist, this is thefirst course I have attendedspecifically for journalists. In thepast we have been ignored.”Samiullah Taza, who works foran Afghan weekly newspaperby outsiders, so it is important to present facts accurately.The IFJ Action Plan is divided into a graduated series of responses,starting with behind the scenes contact within the country.This is, in the first place, carried out by a union or association withinthe country. This can be followed up with non-public contactand pressure at an international level, for example by involving theIFJ officially, in a non-public manner. This can escalate into a formalprotest, still without publicity. Where this is not working, or isnot appropriate because of the seriousness of the case, publicprotests are made by the IFJ and other press freedom groups.Where there is a consistent disregard of press freedom or threatsagainst journalists, the IFJ often carries out fact finding missions,bringing in outside representatives to take evidence from thosewithin the country and to publish a report.In the most serious cases, the IFJ tries to co-ordinate diplomaticaction by, for example, the European Union, the Council of Europeor other appropriate bodies.The IFJ provides member unions with the addresses of otheraffiliates and organisations which can help, and supplies examplesof letters that can be sent. The IFJ Safety Fund is available to provideassistance to journalists who are prevented, either technicallyor physically, from carrying out their normal professional workand who are threatened by, or suffer from, official action onaccount of their professional journalism.Safety training for in-country journalistsThe IFJ plays a leading role, in partnership with a variety of organisations,in providing hands-on training for in-country journalistswho do not have access to the safety training routinely offered tointernational war reporters. The training includes shorter courseswhich can be repeated over several days, so reaching as many journalistsas possible. The courses can be adapted to address specificproblems in covering each conflict.The first IFJ course was held in Ohrid, Macedonia, in September2000 for 23 journalists in the region. It was organised with theMacedonia Press Centre with funding from the Council of Europe.A second workshop, supported by the Council of Europe and theFreedom Forum, was jointly organised with the Centre forIndependent Journalism in Bucharest, Romania, in March 2001, forjournalists from Bulgaria, Hungary, Moldava, the Federal Republicof Yugoslavia and Romania. The three-day training course covered102
Live News — A Survival Guide for Journalistsa wide range of topics including weapons and their effects, emergencymedical training, military press relationships, public disorder,mines and booby-traps and personal protection.In 2002, the IFJ and partners stepped up the programme of safetytraining with a series of courses in regional hotspots. Thisincluded the first safety training for indigenous journalists coveringthe conflict in Afghanistan. Training seminars were jointlyorganised with International Media Support (IMS), working withthe Afghan Media Resource Centre (AMRC) and the Afghan Centrefor the Promotion of Communication, and were delivered by AKEover the border in Peshawar, Pakistan. A special one-day coursefocusing on the basics of safety awareness was repeated over fourdays, and medical kits were distributed to 103 Afghan journalistswho attended, including 19 women journalists. Each one-day seminarfollowed a five-part programme, covering:◆ personal security, ◆ medical aid,◆ mines and booby-traps, ◆ public disorder and riots.◆ hostage situations,Similar issues were addressed in the Palestinian Territories inFebruary 2002, where the IFJ worked with the PalestinianJournalists’ Syndicate (PJS) with the support of IMS and theEuropean Commission. A modified one-day course was delivered tomore than 100 Palestinian journalists in Ramallah, Hebron,Nablus, Gaza and Jerusalem. The course was adapted for journalistsworking under the particular conditions of the PalestinianTerritories, where many Palestinian journalists are not recognisedby the Israeli army. Journalists lack physical protection and feelvery isolated because of what they see as a lack of solidarity fromjournalists in other countries. The risks in the West Bank are notthe same as in Gaza, and the course was adapted for each territory.In September 2002, similar training was carried out for 25 journalistsin Nepal, and, shortly afterwards, for 40 journalists duringa fragile ceasefire in Ivory Coast, West Africa. In Nepal, journalistswere concerned about the danger from mines and from ambush,and the course was adapted to cover these topics.A worldwide protection programme:The International News Safety InstituteThis rapid expansion in safety training prompted the IFJ to start topress for the creation of an international body to provide information,training and assistance to journalists and media organisa-Training aimed tobuild on ceasefireTraining in the Ivory Coastwas designed to takeadvantage of a ceasefire in acivil war that had seenhundreds of people killed.Despite a tradition ofobjective journalism in theIvory Coast, there were graveconcerns about the safety ofjournalists and deterioratingpress freedom.Journalists coveringdemonstrations wereattacked and somenewspapers had to suspendpublication.In November 2002, anemergency aid programmewas launched with a seminaron reporting conflict, and twodays of safety training. Thekey message was to be extraattentive to accuracy andbalance, and to highlight thetrue effects of violence.Journalists showed a highlevel of interest in the safetytraining.The ceasefire later brokedown, putting the conflictback on the daily newsround.◆ The programme was puttogether by the IFJ, theCommunication AssistanceFoundation (CAF Holland),International Media Support (IMS,Denmark) and Media AssistanceInternational (MAI, Geneva), withsupport from the Union Nationaledes Journalistes de Côte d'Ivoire(UNJCI) and the West AfricanJournalists Association.103
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A SURVIVAL GUIDEFOR JOURNALISTSLIVE
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LIVENEWSA SURVIVAL GUIDEFOR JOURNAL
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ContentsPreface . . . . . . . . . .
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IntroductionOver the past 12 years
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Live News — A Survival Guide for
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Chapter 1Preparing to work inhostil
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Part 2The Danger ZoneA cameraman ju
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Live News - A Survival Guide - International Federation of Journalists

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