Inner City Press -- Investigative Reporting From the United Nations to Wall Street to the Inner City

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 6 -- In today's UN, the first questions at press briefings are given out automatically so that the briefer can be praised and their events promoted. But it is journalism?

   On March 5 the spokesperson of the President of the General Assembly described an event featuring the PGA then mentioned that Pamela Falk of CBS would be the moderator. Then she gave the first "question" to Falk herself, as president of the United Nations Correspondents Association -- whose question was to ask about the Twitter hashtag for the event. Video here, from Minute 6:20. Is this journalism or promotion?

  On March 6, Falk again took the first question, thanking the noon briefing guest, on behalf of UNCA, for their leadership "in these events." Video here, from Minute 8:35. Is this journalism or promotion?

  Earlier on March 6, Falk's seeming deputy whom on March 4 actively cut off a question, as previously with Bolivian president Evo Morales, again just grabbed the first question by speaking first - but forgot to turn on the microphone, leaving silence on the UN Webcast. Video here from Minute 14.

  On March 4 with the "World Urban Campaign" the subject of a briefing at the UN, UN HABITAT's spokesperson called on Inner City Press to ask the first question.

   But Falk's deputy cut in and demanded to be given the first question, citing UNCA. It is an organization, Evelyn Leopold formerly of Reuters said, and you are not. UN Video here from Minute 20:10, YouTube here, embedded below.

   Her reference was to the new Free UN Coalition for Access. Not that it should matter, but @FUNCA_info has 810 followers, all over the world including for example actual defense of journalists in Somaliland, versus UNCA which has 125 followers and has tried to get journalists thrown out of the UN.

  Leopold and UNCA have done this before, for example with Bolivia's president Evo Morales in February 2013, click here and here for that (on which we will have more).

  While the UN Secretariat has essentially broken the Staff Union by refusing to recognize the slate that got the most votes in the election held in December, citing procedural violations, today another more obvious procedural breech is scheduled by the UN Secretariat's partner, the United Nations Correspondents Association.

   That group, which in 2012 tried openly and by stealth to get the investigative Press thrown out of the UN and became the UN's Censorship Alliance, is required by its own online "Constitution" to hold its general meeting and financial report in the first half of January.

    Under 2013-14 president Pamela Falk it never happened; it was twice postponed. More than six weeks late, it was held on March 4 at 4 pm -- at the same time as the World Urban Campaign event at the Ford Foundation that was the subject of the briefing at which Leopold demanded the first question. 

   But the UN Secretariat and Spokesperson's Office, unlike the approach to breaking the Staff Union which actually at times challenges them, says nothing.

   In fact, a question and answer session was held last month by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the 15 members of UNCA's Executive Committee the transcript or tape of which was never given to other journalists, even UNCA members not among the fifteen.

  Inner City Press on behalf of the new Free UN Coalition for Access asked Ban's outgoing spokesperson Martin Nesirky for a transcript and was told "get over it," video here.

   Nesirky confirmed that the UNCA executive committee members did not even bring up Ukraine and the disrepute the UN was brought into by the leak that former US official Jeffrey Feltman "got" Ban to send Robert Serry to Ukraine to, in the now-famous phrase, "F*** the EU."

  After not asking that critical UN question, now UNCA as representated by Falk repeats or retweets news about Ukraine, cc-ing UN_Spokesperson. Despite all this, and the fact that when deputy spokesperson Eduardo Del Buey left, his farewell was (appropriately) in the Spokesperson's large office, the March 7 farewell was scheduled in the big room the UN gives UNCA, with its own kitchenette: the UN's Censorship Alliance.

  The censorship goes beyond trying to get the investigative Press -- and others -- thrown out. Inner City Press was ordered to remove from the Internet a story about Sri Lanka and seeming conflict of interest within UNCA's leadership, and was browbeaten about an article about UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous.

  While neither article was removed, one of the "for the record" complaints to the UN Accreditation official now slated to become Ban Ki-moon's new spokesperson on March 10 has been banned from Google's search following a bogus Digital Millennium Copyright Act filing, click here to view: outright censorship.

  (Ironically on February 28 when Inner City Press asked about the banning of a website by the Sri Lankan government, Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson said Ban is committed to free access to the Internet. What about this?)

 To the same UN official, an explicitly internal UNCA document was provided, with the notation "you didn't get this from me," three minutes after the pass-through committed that the document would remain within UNCA: click here for that.

  Under Falk, has UNCA even attempted reforms such as a commitment against censorship, not to spy for the UN or seek to get other journalists thrown out of the UN, or ban things from the Internet? No.

  While UNCA's "leadership" parties, some long time journalists have been thrown out of the UN; others are losing work space and working conditions at the stakeout have declined. The new Free UN Coalition for Access is taking this on.

  Tellingly, when a petition for at least a journalists' work table at the Security Council stakeout was submitted, the response was to browbeat those who'd signed and ask them why they'd signed. This is the UN. Watch this site.