UNITED
NATIONS, July
18 -- The UN
is a game of
access,
sometime
withheld for
no good reason
at all.
Yesterday
after Kenya's
Ambassador
complained
of access for
people with
disabilities,
Inner City
Press asked
and
wrote a piece
about the UN's
claims and a
forthcoming
Secretary
General's
Bulletin on
accessibility.
This
morning during
Mandela Day,
Inner City
Press was
blocked on the
UN's
second floor,
from entering
the re-opened
Delegates'
Lounge. So, on
behalf of the
new Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
a question
was posed
to the UN
Media
Accreditation
and Liaison
Unit, why
this access
was
blocked.
Further
inquiry
by FUNCA
revealed that
it was a
Department of
Safety and
Security “Post
Order.”
While MALU as
is too typical
did not
response to
the simple
Tweeted
question (it
tweets out
messages all
day, and has
replied to a favored
leaking
correspondent,
but now goes
silent), it did
send a
representative
to the post at
issue, and
access was
granted. But
what is the
written rule?
To
get a written
ruling,
according to
the rule of
law the UN
speaks so
much about,
among the
questions
Inner City
Press planned
for
Thursday's
noon briefing,
beyond Mali
and a troubling
video it
highlighted
from South
Sudan, here,
was a request
for an
official
statement of
the rule, to
help all
journalists
with access.
But
before that,
the
spokesperson
called on the
2013
president of
the UN
Correspondents
Association.
She had a
question about
access, but
not
this one. Video
here, from
Minute 14:21.
Rather, she
asked a
day-old,
already
answered
question
about what
Kenya's
Ambassador had
said. Since
the
spokesperson's
answer to
Inner City
Press'
questions had
been e-mailed
to all
journalists,
it was
surprising.
Oh, access.
When
Inner City
Press asked
the FUNCA
question about
access to the
Delegates'
Lounge, the
spokesperson
said Security
must have its
reasons, but
committed to
look into it
and provide an
answer. Video
here, from
Minute 18:45.
That's
all we're
asking. Well,
that and a media
work table at
the Security
Council
stakeout as
existed before
and during the
relocation,
better photo
booths, an end
to arbitrary
threats to
accreditation
and respect
for
freedom of the
press. Step by
step. Watch
this site.
, 
