By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 17, more
here -- As
the UN General
Assembly began
voting on
October 16,
Inner City
Press took and
tweeted
pictures from
the
photographers'
booth above
the GA Hall,
as it has
countless
times before.
It was
announced that
no photograph
should be
taken of the
actually
voting.
Viewing this
as arbitrary
censorship,
Inner City
Press on
behalf of the
new Free
UN Coalition
for Access
tweeted
a photograph
of the voting
desks,
complete with
(successful)
candidate New
Zealand's swag
bag.
The UN Media
Accreditation
and Liaison
Unit came in
and ordered
Inner City
Press to leave
the spot from
which it was
working,
saying the
spot was for
wire services.
Inner City
Press, again
on behalf of
FUNCA, asked
for the UN's
definition of
wire services.
There was none
given. And the
alternative
booth that
Inner City
Press found on
its own had no
chair, no
translation,
no even any
sound as the
vote totals
were called
out. Angola,
Malaysia,
Venezuela, New
Zealand and
Spain won, and
Turkey lost,
as reported
here.
(Inner City
Press for
FUNCA raised
this UN
censorship of
photographs,
in the context
of gifts and
votes and who
won, on Huffington
Post Live's
World Brief on
October 17,
here.)
At the October
17 UN noon
briefing,
Inner City
Press on
behalf of
FUNCA asked
Ban Ki-moon's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric what
the definition
of wire
services, used
to throw Inner
City Press
out, was. Video here.
Dujarric,
saying he was
quoting a
Supreme Court
justice on
another topic,
said, What is
a wire
service? I
know one when
I see one,
adding that he
didn't think
Inner City
Press met the
(undefined)
definition.
He told
another
FUNCA-friendly
photographer
he would
"introduce"
her to the
head of MALU.
This is
unacceptable.
But the old UN
Correspondents
Association,
become the
UN's
Censorship
Alliance, said
nothing.
Instead,
Dujarric's own
spokesman's
office
promoted an
UNCA meeting
for those who
pay it money
to ostensibly
discuss
access. But
UNCA said
nothing when
Under
Secretary
General Herve
Ladsous
physically
blocked the
Press' camera
(Vine
here); in
fact, UNCA
big wigs tried
to get the
investigative
Press thrown
out of the UN.
We'll have
more on this.
, 
