UN
Blacks
Out its TV on
Yemen Nobel
Winner, Syria,
Belated
Answer, In
Full
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 13,
updated 2:15
pm --
On June 12 Yemeni
Nobel Prize
winner
Tawakkol
Karman spoke
before UN
Television
camera for
over five
minutes
including
answering
questions
from Inner
City Press about
Ali Saleh,
impunity, and
Syria.
But it was
never shown on
UN TV. And
despite
asking in
writing
Wednesday
morning then
at the June 13
noon
briefing, the
questions have
not been
answered.
Inner
City Press asked
at the June 12
noon briefing:
Inner
City
Press: I
wanted to ask
you about UN
TV. One thing
is that
Tawakul
Karman, the
Nobel Prize
winner from
Yemen, spoke
today at the
stakeout on UN
TV, including
about the
topic of
Syria. I am
yet to
see it up, and
I just wanted
to see what
the policy is
in terms of
making that
video
available. And
I also wanted
to ask about
the cut
off of Syrian
Ambassador
Bashar
Ja’afari last
Thursday.
You’d
called it a
miscommunication.
But multiple
people, part
of the chain
that led to
the cut off
have said to
me that
Michele
DuBach, the
acting Deputy
Director of
the News and
Media Division
specifically
called and
said turn it
off. So,
is this what
you are saying
was a
miscommunication?
Did somebody
miscommunicate
to her,
because she
seemed to
speak very
clearly and
not
miscommunicate
to say turn it
off. Then,
later, it was
turned on.
But, can we
get more
clarity
about what led
to this order
to turn it
off?
Spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky: Have
you finished?
Inner
City
Press: Yeah, I
have.
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Okay. On the
first part,
the remarks at
the stakeout
by
the Nobel
Peace Prize
winner, we can
check on that
of course. On
the
second part,
the call made
to the control
room at UN
Television was
made on the
instructions
of the
Director of
the News and
Media
Division. It
is as simple
as that, okay?
Yes?
Inner
City
Press: That’s
Mr. Dujarric?
Spokesperson:
The
last time I
looked he was
the Director
of the News
and Media
Division, yes,
that’s right.
Stephane
Dujarric
was spokesman
for Kofi
Annan, then
for UNDP's
Helen Clark,
and is now in
charge, along
with UN TV, of
media
accreditation
at the
UN.
Tuesday
afternoon,
with the
Tawakkol
Karman video
still not
online, Inner
City Press got
this:
Subject:
Your
question on
the Webcast
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date: Tue, Jun
12, 2012 at
4:07 PM
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
Live
UN
Webcast was
not available
this morning,
because a
cable was
inadvertently
cut by a
construction
crew as part
of the
renovation.
On-demand
videos of the
events this
morning will
be available
at the
Webcast site.
Because
others
were
complaining
they could not
see even the
afternoon's
Security
Council
session on
Iran, Inner
City Press
tweeted about
it,
citing
Dujarric
because his
name was cited
in the
Security
Council as
responsible
for the
Webcast and
its
discontents.
On
Tuesday night
-- when Inner
City Press
worked to put its own
video of the
Tawakkol
Karman
stakeout on
its YouTube
channel, here,
since the UN
hadn't --
Dujarric
tweeted back,
seeming to
invite
questions
directly to
him. Inner
City Press
sees an
obvious
conflict,
but
nevertheless
on Wednesday
morning e-mail
this to
Dujarric:
As
suggested,
here are
morning
questions
about UN TV:
-
why did you
decide to tell
UN TV to turn
off when
Syria's Perm
Rep
started
speaking in
the GA on June
7? What was
Ms. DuBach's
role?
-
what happened
with UN TV
yesterday
morning? Was a
cable cut? By
whom?
What are the
repercussions?
How widespread
was the
impact?
-
will the
footage of
Tawakkol
Karman be put
up on UN TV
archives, as
it was in
October 2011?
If not, why
not?
No
answer having
been received,
after a
question about
Haiti that
Spokesman
Nersirky
didn't
substantively
answer, Inner
City Press
asked why the
Tawakkol
Karman footage
was still not
online.
Nesirky
said
that something
must be wrong
with Inner
City Press'
email,
because
Dujarric had
sent one and
Nesirky would
not repeat its
contents.
Inner City
Press
immediately
said, I have
not received
any
email from
Dujarric, so
what is the
answer? The 4
pm June 12
email
was not from
Dujarric, and
in any event
Inner City
Press was
asking
ABOUT it on
June 13. But
Nesirky didn't
even allow any
more
questions. And
so it goes at
the UN.
Update:
at 2:11 pm on
June
13, two hours
after the noon
briefing and
an hour after
the
publication of
the above, the
following
arrived
(apparently,
not only
UNTV but other
UN wires are
cut or slow) -
Matthew,
As
mentioned
repeatedly, we
very much
regret and
apologize for
the brief
disruption of
the UN's
broadcasting
of the General
Assembly
meeting
on Syria
yesterday.
This was due
to a
mis-communication
within the
News &
Media
division.
Basically, the
latest
information
about
what parts of
the meetings
were open and
which parts
were closed
were
not shared
widely enough.
Every effort
is being made
to prevent
similar
occurrences in
the future.
Michele duBach
acted on my
instructions.
Regarding
coverage
yesterday, as
mentioned
after the
briefing, the
live UN
Webcast was
not available
this morning,
because a
cable was
inadvertently
cut by a
construction
crew as part
of the
renovation.
Every effort
is being made
to put online
on the UN
webcast site
the
videos that
was recorded
during the
day. My
understanding
is that the
repairs are on
going and will
be completed
soon.
Thanks.
Watch this
site.
, 
