UNITED
NATIONS, May
21 -- The UN
and its
partners seem
to either
misunderstand
or have little
respect for
freedom of
speech, or
freedom of the
press to
interview
sources and
cover the
Security
Council as it
has in the
past.
This
week new draft
"Media Access
Guidelines,"
with the old
UN
Correspondents
Association as
a named party,
were provided
for
comment.
Back in
February, the
new Free
UN Coalition
for Access
had
submitted
ten proposed
reforms,
so it seemed
only a matter
of
matching these
to the open
draft.
But
there were
major changes
in the new
document with
UNCA as a
party. As to
the Security
Council, they
propose that
"f.
The Security
Council
stakeout area,
including the
Turkish
Lounge,
is
not to be used
as a permanent
workspace for
the media.
When the
Council is not
in session,
correspondents
should
minimize the
amount
of time in the
area, unless
interviewing
or conversing
with a U.N.
delegate or
official."
This
would
represent a
significant
roll-back from
the access the
press had
to the
Security
Council before
the $2
billion
Capital Master
Plan
renovation of
the UN,
and even what
it has had at
the interim
Security
Council in the
basement under
the General
Assembly.
Previously
at
the Security
Council, there
was a round
table which
the press
could use, to
write articles
or edit video.
Likewise at
the Interim
Security
Council there
is a table.
The
sentence "when
the Council is
not in
session,
correspondents
should
minimize the
amount of time
in the area"
shows a lack
of
understanding
or respect for
how to cover
the Council.
There
are often not
only
consultations,
but meetings
in the Council
between
the month's
President and
other
countries, or
entities like
the Red
Cross. This is
covering the
Council, and
these draft
"Guidelines"
would result
in less
access, less
coverage.
The
draft rules
propose to
limit entry
into the
Delegates'
Lounge to
"resident"
correspondents,
defined as
those with
offices in
the UN.
As
FUNCA has
repeatedly
shown the
Department of
Public
Information,
it is unfair
to deny such
status for
example to a
photographer
covering the
UN for twenty
years, but
give a
"resident
correspondents"
pass to a
photographer
for a wire
service like
Agence France
Presse even if
the
photographer
only rarely
comes to
the UN.
The 2013
president of
UNCA had told
UNCA members
she was
fighting for
all
correspondents
to have access
to the
Delegates'
Lounge, but
then named
only resident
correspondents
in a letter.
Turkish
Lounge,
indeed.
Tellingly,
the
new draft
rules state:
"Posting
of
notices is
restricted to
the bulletin
boards
provided by
DPI,
including the
UNCA bulletin
board (by U.N.
Correspondents
Association
officials),
and the
General Access
Bulletin Board
(by all
accredited
correspondents).
Signs posted
on doors are
limited to
entry
restrictions,
for example,
'do not
disturb' or
'on air' or
the
identification
of your
organization.
All other
notices (e.g.
announcement
of
meetings/event,
press
releases) are
prohibited
unless
specifically
authorized by
Media
Accreditation
and Liaison
Unit (MALU).
"Failure
to
adhere to
guidelines in
this document
can be grounds
for
withdrawal or
suspension of
accreditation."
To
explain this
proposal,
inevitably a
bit of history
is needed. In
2012, the UNCA
Executive
Committee
tried to get
Inner City
Press
thrown
out -- first,
of the
Committee to
which it was
elected,
then
out of the UN
as a whole.
See documents
obtained under
the Freedom of
Information
Act from Voice
of America,
concerning Thomson
Reuters,
Bloomberg/UNCA
and AFP.
Click
here for
responsive
statement by
the NY Civil
Liberties
Union.
The
UNCA Executive
Committee
posted on its
glassed-in
bulletin board
a
four
page letter
(later sent
anonymously to
the Guardian
UK)
denouncing
Inner City
Press, for
five months.
MALU
did nothing.
Once
Inner City
Press let its
due paying
membership in
UNCA expire,
quit
UNCA and
co-founded the
Free
UN Coalition
for Access
with another
elected UNCA
Executive
Committee
member who
quit in
disgust, FUNCA
sought to post
fliers.
UNCA
Executive
Committee
members tore
these
down, or defaced
or counterfeited
them. Even
then, MALU
said that
correspondents
were
free to post
fliers on the
doors to their
offices.
Then
after advocacy
with the chief
of DPI, a
FUNCA or
"non-UNCA"
bulletin board
was allowed.
FUNCA posted
substantive
fliers there,
concerning
such matters
as how
Ban Ki-moon's
media
availabilities
should (not)
be organized;
no "fakeouts
at the
stakeout."
During
the move,
there has been
no bulletin
board. FUNCA
fliers
about
problems
with the move
were posted on
the door of
Inner City
Press'
office, along
with a FUNCA
sign.
Now
comes the
proposal to
outlaw any
substantive
fliers even on
correspondents'
office doors.
What have the
UN and its
partner UNCA
-- yes, the
UN's
Censorship
Alliance --
come to?
FUNCA
was asked to
comment on the
draft Media
Access
Guidelines,
and has
raised the
above points
and more. It
has requested
explanation of
the
proposed
changes,
including
those above.
Rather than
any
explanation,
this from the
UN's Stephane
Dujarric: