UNITED
NATIONS, April
29 -- When UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
refused to
take any
questions on
his Syria
chemical
weapons probe,
after much
promotion of
his “press
encounter” on
the topic,
media
dissatisfaction
was
widespread.
Inner
City Press,
after uploading
video of the
question-less
encounter and
some of the
disorganization
which preceded
it (haphazard
screening of
print
journalists,
elevators up
to the 38
floor and then
down again,
stakeout in a
UN lobby
location
without
wi-fi),
conferred and
for the
Free
UN Coalition
for Access
submitted a
letter of
complaint to
the
Department of
Public
Information.
FUNCA
primarily
complained
that Ban
should take
questions from
the media;
that is the
purpose of a
“press
encounter.” By
contrast,
Syria's
Permanent
Representative
Bashar
Ja'afari has
scheduled a
press
conference for
April 30 at
10:30 am at
which it seems
sure he will
take
questions. Why
doesn't Ban?
DPI
has been
sitting on
specific
requests
submitted by
FUNCA on April
18
and before,
including a dozen
proposed
reforms to its
archaic Media
Accreditation
rules and
Access
Guidelines
(to which the
old UN
Correspondents'
Association
is a party, or
collaborator).
But
this time DPI
sent back a
response
quickly,
albeit not
from its chief
but rather the
head of UNTV,
and main UNCA
partner,
Stephane
Dujarric.
On
Ban's
questionless
press
encounter or
“fakeout at
the stakeout,”
Dujarric
wrote:
From:
Stephane
Dujarric [at]
un.org
Date: Mon, Apr
29, 2013 at
4:17
PM
Subject: Fw:
FUNCA response
to S-G's press
"encounter"
this morning,
outstanding
questions,
thanks
To: funca [at]
funca
[dot] info
Cc: Isabelle
Broyer [at]
un.org
Thank
you for the
email you
addressed to
DPI this
morning
regarding
issues
you had with
the
Secretary-General's
appearance
before the
press.
I'm
truly sorry
that you felt
the event was
not organized
properly and
wasted your
time. I would
ask you to
show some
flexibility.
Due to
the large
number of
journalists
present, a
decision was
made to
change the
location of
the event to
one that would
be more
comfortable
all those
involved,
including the
Secretary-General.
Sometimes
things change
at the last
minute and we
just all have
to go
with the flow.
As
for the event
itself, you
complain that
the
Secretary-General
took no
questions and
that it should
not have been
called a
“press
encounter.” I
frankly don’t
know what to
call an event
when the
Secretary-General
encounters the
press but a
“press
encounter.”
There are
clearly
different
types of press
encounters and
sometimes
questions are
taken and
sometimes they
are not
depending on
the
circumstances.
No
one wants to
waste your
time but
please
understand
that your
presence
is not
mandatory and
that you are
free to attend
or not to
attend any
event at the
UN. I have no
way of
guaranteeing
that press
events at
the UN will
not be a waste
of your time.
In planning
these events
we
can only hope
that you will
find them
useful.
There
is currently
no wi-fi in
the north end
of the
Secretariat
lobby but I
do very much
hope that
wi-fi coverage
will be
extended
through out
the building
as soon as
practicable.
The
response
largely speaks
for itself.
But just on
the last
point: no
wi-fi after a
$2 billion
renovation?
Would the UN
call Ban
speaking to UNTV
(run by
Dujarric) a
"press
encounter"?
And
will Ban hold
another
"encounter"
after Syria's
press
conference on
April 30? Or
will a Western
power's
ambassador do
it?
Footnote:
We
said Dujarric
is UNCA's main
supporter (and
even an
opponent of
anything more
than a one
party system)
and here are
just a few
reasons.
Dujarric
complained
when Inner
City Press
published
audio of
UNCA president
Pamela Falk
screaming in
an on
the record
meeting,
audio
here and
here.
This
month,
Dujarric
threatened
Inner City
Press about a
single
tweet that
mentioned
World War Two
and UN
Peacekeeping
chief
Herve Ladsous
who
owes his JOB
to France's
veto power won
in WW2.
Dujarric
has
refused to
explain how
photos taken
during a
non-consensual
raid
of Inner City
Press' office
on March 18
were leaked
to BuzzFeed on
March 21,
right after
that
publication
contacted
Ban's
spokesman with
questions
about the raid.
We will
continue to
push on all
this. Watch
this site.
, 
