Inner City Press: Investigative Reporting from the United Nations

In Ban's UN, Press Barred from Photo Op with Sri Lanka Opposition Leader

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 5 -- That UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon “runs scared,” as one of his staffers puts it, more on Sri Lanka than other countries was again on display, but not to be photographed, on July 5. Ban was to meet with Ranil Wickremesinghe, described in Ban's schedule as “Leader of the Opposition.”

But when Inner City Press asked to attend the photo opportunity at the beginning of Ban's meeting with Ranil, the double standards began.

Only last week, with “Leader of the Opposition” of Israel Tzipi Livni met with Ban, Inner City Press was allowed to go to the photo op, observing the banter between Ban and the Israeli delegation.

At the July 5 noon briefing, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky:

Inner City Press: there is this meeting till this afternoon with the opposition leader; I wanted to know, actually I wanted to know whether it is possible if there is going to be any kind of photo op for even the Sri Lankan delegates or UN Photo? And I also wanted to know, just sort of yes or no, if the Secretary-General has now seen the Channel 4 documentary Killing Fields depicting war crimes and somewhat critical of the UN’s…?

Spokesperson Nesirky: On the first, UN Photo will certainly be there, and I know that you’ve already requested to the Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit [MALU]whether you can be present. And I am checking on that. And as for the other, as I think you already heard from Farhan in the last few days, a copy of the film, the documentary has been given to the Secretary-General. I don’t know whether he has had the time to see it yet. But as I have told you before as well, he has been fully briefed on its contents.

Shortly after this noon briefing exchange, Inner City Press was informed by MALU that it could not attend the photo op. While Nesirky told MALU he would ask UN Photo to put the Ban and Ranil photo online shortly after the meeting, as of 7 pm on Tuesday the photo was not up -- unlike the UN's own Livni - Ban photo.

Ban & Israel "Opposition Leader" Livni June 29, Ranil July 5 not shown

Inner City Press waited downstairs from the meeting. Ranil and his escort, Deputy Permanent Representative Shavendra Silva, never walked through any public area of the UN. Instead, going up at 3:30 pm were Ban's top lawyer (who refuses to speak with the press) Patricia O'Brien and the UN staffer who accepted a Tamil petition earlier this year then asked that his name not be published.

What is wrong with Team Ban on the Sri Lanka issue? Ban's chief of staff was involved in the so-called White Flag killings of surrenderees. Does that explain it? Or is there more? Watch this site.

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Sri Lanka & UN's Ban, Photos Not Allowed, Killing Fields Not Seen?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 5 -- Last week Ban Ki-moon's acting deputy spokesman told Inner City Press that Ban had been given a copy of the “Killing Fields” documentary showing war crimes in Sri Lanka and would see if when he had time. It was also confirmed that on July 5 Ban would meet with Sri Lankan politician Ranil Wickremesinghe.

When July 5 arrived, this meeting was listed at 3:30 pm. Inner City Press asked, just to confirm, that it would be allowed to take photographs at the beginning, as happens as such meetings, not only by UN Photo and delegations but also independent media.

Inner City Press was told to wait and see. At the day's noon briefing, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky if there would be such a photo op. He said, you have asked earlier, we do not yet know.

On whether Ban had taken the time to see the “Killing Fields,” Nesirky reiterated that Ban has been given a copy, but said he doesn't know if Ban has seen it. Ban's schedule lists another a trip later on Monday, to Spain.

Ban & M. Rajapaksa Sept 2010, Killing Fields and UN review not shown

After the noon briefing, Inner City Press was informed that it would not be allowed to photograph Ban's meeting with Ranil. It would be photographed by the UN itself, “for archival purposes.” It was said that an attempt will be made to make the UN's own photo available; then it was said that this is not done. A blackout of independent media, then. We'll see.

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As Ban's Spokesman Blames UN Radio for Question, Other Answers Not Public

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 22 -- Just after Ban Ki-moon won his one-candidate race for five more years as UN Secretary General, when he came to the General Assembly stakeout on June 21 his final question was given to the UN's own in-house radio station.

The question was, “hi Secretary-General, it is nice to see you again. How do you feel on this historic day and what is the message you have to the young people of the world?”

Ban smiled and gave his longest answer at the stakeout, transcribed and put online by the UN.

The next Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky, “at that press encounter yesterday, it seemed that the question was granted by yourself to UN Radio, which is owned by the UN, so it’s sort of an in-house station. Is that generally accepted?”

Nesirky, prepared for the question, said that “No, it is not generally accepted, and it shouldn’t have happened. And UN Radio staff have been reminded of what the rules are. The rules are quite clear: it is for people with press badges to ask questions.”

Some wondered about blaming the hapless UN Radio reporter, when it was Ban's spokesman who for whatever reason devoted the last question to her, and has left the seemingly scripted answer online.

Later on June 22 this problem was addressed by Ban taking, but the UN apparently not transcribing, by-invitation only questions, about Kashmir, Japanese engineers to South Sudan and as reported, Syria.

Ban was asked, perhaps as wishful thinking, about “speculation in Korea that you are a potential candidate for the President. Are you going to run for the presidency of the country?”

Twenty hours later, unlike his stage-managed stakeout including the child question from UN Radio, this Ban Q&A has not been transcribed and put online by the UN, even in its “off the cuff” section. To some this appeared to be a new media strategy, implemented on the first two days of Ban's new term:

Take public questions from the UN's own media and put the answers online; take questions in private from hand-selected journalists and don't put any transcript online. We'll see.

Click for Mar 1, '11 BloggingHeads.tv re Libya, Sri Lanka, UN Corruption

These reports are usually also available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis.

Click here for a Reuters AlertNet piece by this correspondent about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click here for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an undefined trust fund. Video Analysis here

Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.

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