As
a smaller
level, but
pertinent on
this World
Press Freedom
Day, the
UN on May 2
along with
journalists
from South
Sudan and
Mexico put on
its panel the
head of an
organization,
the UN
Correspondents
Association,
which it knows
spent most of
its meetings
in 2012 trying
to get the
investigative
Press thrown
out of the UN.
That,
of course, is
inconsistent
with press
freedom and
the protection
of
journalist --
in fact, when
the UNCA
Executive
Committee was
shown
that its kangaroo
court
proceeding
was leading to
death threats
from
Sri Lankan
extremists,
they didn't
care, but
rather stepped
up the
proceedings.
While
at the time
the UN
repeatedly
tried to say
it had nothing
to do with
the proceeding
and didn't
know what UNCA
was doing, it
did: Voice
of
America wrote
to the UN's
Stephane
Dujarric
seeking the
review of the
accreditation
of Inner City
Press.
Freedom
of
Information
Act requests,
ongoing, to
VOA have
yielded
documents
showing that VOA
said Reuters
and Agence
France Presse
supported the
attack on the
Press;
Bloomberg
would have,
but its
lawyers said
to
back off.
Dujarric set
up a channel
outside of his
UN email
address
to field
complaints.
AFP's
Tim
Witcher,
photo by UNTV
In
2013, specious
complaints
against the
Press have
been filed by
AFP's
Tim Witcher
(on behalf of
UN
Peacekeeping's
Herve Ladsous,
whose
abuse is
Witcher's
first
complaint) and
Reuters'
Michelle
Nichols and
Louis
Charbonneau,
UNCA's first
vice
president.
Charbonneau
- stealth
complaint here
- and Ban, (c)
Luiz
Rampelotto
UNCA's
president for
2013, Pamela
Falk of CBS,
screamed at
Inner City
Press
in front of
Dujarric and
others in DPI,
made legal
threats and
took
photographs at
DPI's March 18
raid on Inner
City Press'
office.
Falk audio here
and here
and here.
Pam Falk,
photos for CBS
or UNCA?
This photo by
UNTV
So
the
UN
knows all of
this -- but
put UNCA's
Falk on its
World Press
Freedom Day
panel. It was
a travesty. As
Falk spoke,
Inner City
Press put
online several
of the
documents it
obtained under
the
Freedom of
Information
Act.
And
what was the
response?
UNCA's troll
army, Falk's
trolls are
they're
now known,
kept up a
stream of
anonymous
social media
posts, making
false claims
about funding
of the type
that they know
led to death
threats in
2012, and
calling the
posting of US
government
documents
obtained under
FOIA, which
make them look
back, "cyber
bullying."
Criticism
is fine; but
when big media
corporation
are so
cowardly as to
go anonymous
this way, this
is and will be
the response.
DPI
knows these
UNCA trolls;
Reuters has
been shown of
its
involvement.
Yes no one
does anything.
Joel Simon of
CPJ was there;
in a brief
conversation
Inner City
Press raised
again to him
the documents
obtained under
FOIA. And
what?
Joel
Simon heard,
on his panel,
that UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous
won't answer
Press
questions
because he
doesn't like
how he is
covered,
including on
his role in
1994, as
France's
Deputy
Permanent
Representative,
during the
Rwanda
genocide. Is
this press
freedom? No,
this is the
UN, and its UN
Censorship
Alliance.
Watch this
site.