UN's
False
Accusation of
Press for
Censorship
Alliance
UNcorrected 1
Week
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, March
6 -- Showing
the need for
UN due process
rules for
journalists,
it was one
full week ago
that UN media
accreditation
boss Stephane
Dujarric sent
Inner City
Press a demonstrably
false
complaint,
intended to
hinder both
reporting and
reform of UN
rules.
Dujarric's
complaint
or threat
letter said
that some
undefined “we”
felt
“deeply
disappointed”
in a story
published by
Inner City
Press
including
audio in which
Pamela Falk,
the president
of the UN
Correspondents
Association
screamed at
Inner City
Press that
writing
to media
companies
about their
policies
“might be a
crime” and
not to publish
her name.
Louis
Charbonneau of
Reuters, in
the on
the record
session, told
Inner City
Press “the
fundamental
problem is
your website.”
(Ironically,
ThomsonReuters
was promoting
itself
Wednesday
morning on
the web as
“one of the
world's most
ethical
companies,” we
are awaiting
reply.)
Reuters'
Charbonneau
is first vice
president of
UNCA,
increasingly
known as
the UN's
censorship
alliance.
The
session and
audio included
Inner City
Press stating
“you are on
the
record,” and
Falk replying,
“he's going to
write this one
up.” Click here
for audio.
But
Dujarric's
letter claimed
that “it was
clearly
understood by
all
sides that
there would be
no reporting
and recording
of the
meeting.”
Inner City
Press
immediately
replied to
Dujarric, one
week ago,
showing this
to be false.
Another
attendee, with
whom Dujarric
seemingly
attempted to
play “divide
and conquer,”
wrote the
same,
that Inner
City Press had
made it clear
the meeting
was on the
record
and was being
recorded.
Recording,
and
publishing,
audio was
essential
since Falk
shouted that
everything --
everything! --
published
about her was
100% false,
including
openly taped
but not
published
quotes that
she and
“anyone”
from UNCA
would always
demand the
first question
in UN noon
briefings.
But
Dujarric made
no response or
retraction:
nothing.
Another
Department
of Public
Information
official told
Inner City
Press that
Dujarric's
letter was
“not innocent”
but
represented an
attempt to
“build
a case” to
throw Inner
City Press out
of the UN.
As
reflected by
documents
obtained under
the US Freedom
of Information
Act, UNCA
tried to do
just that with
Dujarric in
mid-2012, and
Dujarric's
response was
“thanks, I'll
call you” --
while never
informing
Inner City
Press of the
formal request
by Voice of
America
that its UN
accreditation
be reviewed.
Now
Dujarric's
false
complaint
followed by
silence only
make it more
clear that the
UN must adopt
due process
rules for
journalists,
as
was requested
by the New
York Civil
Liberties
Union in a
July 5, 2012
letter to the
chief of DPI.
Not
only does DPI
not have due
process rules
for when an
outside big
media company
files a
complaint
against a
smaller, more
investigative
competitor --
the UN has no
rules for when
its own
officials
falsely
accuse a
journalist.
Where
is DPI on
this? Where is
the UN on
this?
Yesterday
Inner
City Press did
not publish
any more of
the audio from
the on the
record
meeting, as an
experiment.
Still, no
retraction,
amplification
or explanation
by Dujarric.
Others in DPI
now try to
convert his
complaint into
one of
“surprise”
that audio was
published. But
his complaint
says, falsely,
that “it was
clearly
understood by
all
sides that
there would be
no reporting
and recording
of the
meeting.”
Not
only was and
is that NOT
“clear” -- it
is false. It
is proved
false
by the audio
itself.
There are
places on
Earth where
authorities
formally
accuse
journalists,
without any
regard for the
truth of the
accusations.
Is this true
of the UN as
well? Watch
this
site.
, 
