CJA E-letter
from
the Commonwealth Journalists Association
Headquarters: 305
Executive director: Josanne Leonard miribai@tstt.net.tt
Newsletter editor: David Spark david@dspark.fsnet.co.uk, who
will be glad of any e-mailed comments. Views expressed in this
newsletter
are those of contributors and not of the CJA
The CJA thanks the Commonwealth Foundation for its financial support
Issue
No
Page
2 Australian reporters rescue tourists in
Page
3 Facing jail to protect a source
Page
4 Farewell to CJA co-founder Patrick Keatley
Page
5/6 Right to Know Day
Page
7/8 News in brief
Reporter’s arrest outrageous,
says IFJ
Sonu Jain, senior assistant editor
of The Indian Express, writes:
I am sending details of what we consider an
attempt to
muzzle the press. The International Federation of Journalists,
representing
over 500,000 journalists worldwide, issued this statement on the arrest
of an
Indian Express reporter, Gautam Dheer, in the
Here are the details. On the night of August 28, a police team, reporting directly to Inspector General of Police Sumedh Saini, stormed into the house of The Indian Express principal correspondent Gautam Dheer and took him away.
The police, some in uniform and some in civilian clothes, did not identify themselves, gave no reason for the arrest, had no warrant or court order, denied Dheer access to a lawyer and refused to even confirm that they had taken him. No one from his family or the newspaper was allowed access until early next morning. He had written a story on a complaint against IGP Saini to the Punjab Human Rights Commission.
Later on August 29, Dheer was released on bail. The manner in which he was rounded up was condemned by all the political parties. It even found an echo in the Indian Parliament.
To further worsen matters, Saini himself heads
the team
investigating the arrest. In a mark of direct confrontation with the
With this development, Dheer will never get a chance for a fair trial.
(The previous CJA newsletter reported that a
police
officer sought to justify the arrest by accusing Dheer of threatening a
girl.)
Reporters as rescuers in
The
first of an estimated 40 Australians trapped in flooded
They
found a working telephone box near by and rang their daughter in
A
couple of days later the Nine Network’s Robert Penfold found another
Australian
couple in the horror of the Convention Centre and helped them to a bus
that
took them to Dallas, Texas.
This
happened days before Australian consular officials were allowed into
Facing jail to protect a source
Two journalists, pictured
above, are facing jail for protecting their source in court, writes Pieter Wessels
of CJA
Michael
Harvey and Gerard McManus of
Leaking
government documents is a specific crime in
Harvey
and McManus declined to do so and the county court judge warned that
they face
jail for contempt, the contempt being that they refused to answer a
question in
court. They will know their fate when the case resumes before the end
of
September.
The
media in
At
the same time a conviction and/or jail term could destroy their
careers. With a
police record they would not be allowed into the
One
of the few sensible comments on this dilemma has just come from the
federal
attorney-general, Philip Ruddock, who has expressed interest in
legislating to
protect journalists in cases not involving a major crime or national
security.
His department is preparing situation papers, with input from CJA
Australia.
But any such legislation will be too late for Harvey and McManus.
Links:
A
full transcript of the court hearing is at <http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/img/2005/ep26/proceedings.pdf>
The
Alliance Code of Ethics is at
<http://www.alliance.org.au/hot/ethicscode.htm>
A farewell
to Patrick Keatley
British Prime Minister Churchill once summoned
Patrick
Keatley to his presence. “You have caused me a lot of trouble, young
man,” he
said. The occasion was the scoop which won Patrick (later to help found
the
CJA) a place in The Guardian’s
Patrick’s
articles won so much attention they were reprinted as a pamphlet.
Meeting him
on The Guardian’s staircase, the editor, A.P.Wadsworth, grumbled that
he had
had to take on an extra secretary to handle the orders.
It
seems that he lived his life in a perpetual hurry, because of the
fabled length
of his conversations. John Cole, a Guardian colleague who became
political
editor at the BBC, said that he learned from Patrick the importance of
talking
to a contact, rather than rushing to meet the demands of editors.
Patrick’s
career as a journalist developed with the story of African
independence. He got
to know the smell of
He
became the personal friend of the emerging generation of leaders of
newly
independent countries. Their children got sparkling presents from
Hamleys toy
shop, because Patrick did their Christmas shopping.
Sir
Sonny Ramphal, former Commonwealth Secretary-General, said that Patrick
cared
passionately about the Commonwealth and empathised with its people. The
Commonwealth
especially benefited from the Canadian spirit he represented.
Sir
John Tusa, former managing director of the BBC World Service, recalled
the work
Patrick did there alongside his Guardian job. He once turned up for a
broadcast
so late he had no time to write a script, but reeled off 600 words
without
deviation or repetition, with the help of a few cuttings. After a
broadcast,
Patrick always wanted to continue the discussion in the canteen,
probably
making himself late for his next appointment. He had a never-failing
ability to
provide a commentary when one was required. In his soft, lilting voice
he told
stories and drew pictures for his listeners, ever eager to pass on to
them what
he knew.
The
memorial service opened with Patrick’s favourite hymn To Be a Pilgrim.
Right to
Know Day
By Indra Jeet Mistry,
Commonwealth Human
Rights Initiative,
September 28 will be celebrated
as International Right to Know
Day. It stresses the right to
information from government (and even some private bodies) as a means
of
promoting good governance, deepening democracy and strengthening
development by
breaking down bureaucratic cultures of secrecy and making governments
accountable for their actions.
The right to information is also
vitally important to media
impartiality and effectiveness. Yet, within the Commonwealth, only ten
countries (
An enforceable right to
information is a powerful tool for
journalists. It compels governments to
disclose information about their activities. It can bolster the ability
of
journalists to get information from the government, helping them to
unearth
incidents of corruption and the misuse or mismanagement of public
funds.
The media are a vital channel of
communication between the government
and citizens and, when equipped with the right to information, can
amplify
people’s calls for government to be accountable, through better
informed
reporting on government activities.
The media’s use of right to
information laws can greatly improve the
quality of investigative journalism.
Reporters can access verifiable government information, thereby
reducing
their reliance on lucky breaks and riskier, unreliable sources.
Journalists in the Commonwealth
will soon be turning their attention to
the 2005 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting taking place in
CHOGM has identified the need for
all Commonwealth countries to focus
their development efforts on upgrading information and communications
technology in developing member states.
While an effective use of
information technology can empower citizens
by providing access to key government information, it cannot compel
governments
to disclose information in the first place.
This is why it needs to be complemented by a right to
information
law.
A right to information, along
with information technology, can also
help promote more active and better informed media, which can open up
more
effective channels of communication between citizens and government. For journalists attending this year’s CHOGM,
it will be well worth pointing out how much more effective the
Commonwealth’s
information technology strategy will be if it incorporates the people’s
legal
right to information.
CHRI
consultant Andrew Galea Debono writes that a spate of arrests and
attacks on
media members in Commonwealth countries has brought the issue of
freedom of
expression into the foreground. Most incidents can be viewed as
intimidation
and attempts at censorship. Debono says several governments are
pleading
national security to censor and intimidate journalists. He also
mentions Andrew
Mwenda, a Ugandan broadcaster facing jail after remarks on his
programme
alleging that government incompetence led to the helicopter crash in
which
News in brief
AFRICA
Media
women were challenged
at the Highway Africa conference to report on information technology as
a means
to development.
BANGLADESH
Seven
journalists in the
southern city of Bagerhat
MALDIVES
International PEN is concerned
for the health of Ahmed Ibrahim Didi,
serving a 15-year sentence for writing articles for a website critical
of the
authorities. His fellow accused Mohammed Zaki has been released.
International
PEN has also protested against terrorism and sedition charges brought
against
writer and opposition politician Mohammed Nasheed. He was arrested
during a
peaceful protest in August.
Mohammed Tahir, editor of the
banned Islamist weekly Wajood, was freed
on bail in September. He was held for seven weeks on a charge of
inciting
religious hatred. RSF
Pakistani journalists are to
protest on October 3 against failure to
pay a wage award. Dawn
SIERRA LEONE
Broadcaster Kelvin Newstead was
forced to prostrate himself before and
beg forgiveness from the Bo district’s tribal chief after he challenged
the
right of 390 delegates to choose the ruling party’s presidential
candidate. He
said the 5 million population should have done the choosing. RSF
A Singaporean has challenged the
law against politics in films by
filing a complaint about films featuring government leaders and shown
by
national broadcaster MediaCorp. This challenge follows the seizure in
August of
the film Singapore Rebel, about the persecution of opposition leader
Chee Soon
Juan. SEAPA
Publishers and journalists
associations have rejected as insincere a
minister’s apology for the brutal beating of Sunday Citizen chief
photographer
Mpoki Bukuku and others on September 10. Bukuku was attacked by prison
officers
and prisoners while covering the eviction of families in dispute with
the Prisons
Department over ownership of their homes. MISA
Our thanks
For
news in this newsletter we thank contributors including the
International
Freedom of Expression Exchange and its associates International PEN,
the Media
Institute of Southern
(SEAPA).