WORLD PRESS
FREEDOM DAY TO FOCUS ON TERRORISM AND MEDIA
Ceremony in Manila
Paris, April 25
- Terrorism and Media is the theme of this year's World Press
Freedom Day, celebrated around the world on May 3. Philippines
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and UNESCO Director-General
Koïchiro Matsuura will mark the event with a ceremony at
Malacañang Palace, in Manila.
A two-day conference
on Terrorism and Media will be held at the Westin Philippine
Plaza in Manila on May 1 and 2. It will focus on the impact
of terrorism on the media around the world and feature case
studies from the Philippines, Colombia, the Basque Country in
Spain, Zimbabwe and Chechnya. Themes to be debated include:
the events of September 11 and their effect on freedom of information;
problems in reporting on terrorism; and safety of journalists
working in conflict situations.
Journalists from
around the world whose daily work exposes them to the dangers
of terrorism and violence will take part in the conference,
as will representatives of leading international professional
organizations and non-governmental civil rights bodies including
Human Rights Watch, the International Federation of Journalists,
the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters sans Frontières
and the World Association of Newspapers.
Participants at
the conference are expected to adopt recommendations concerning
press freedom and the safety of journalists working in violent
environments.
This year's $25,000
UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize will be presented
by Director-General Koichiro Matsuura to Zimbabwean journalist
Geoffrey Nyarota at Malacañang Palace on the morning
of May 3 in the presence of President Macapagal-Arroyo.
Mr Nyarota, 50,
is the editor-in-chief of Zimbabwe's only independent daily
newspaper, the Daily News. Despite many death threats and two
bomb attacks against his paper, Mr Nyarota has persisted in
denouncing corruption and criminal activities among top government
officials in his country. He has been arrested and detained
repeatedly and there are several libel suits pending against
him.
Also during the conference, President Macapagal-Arroyo and Director-General
Matsuura will present a plaque commemorating the late Wall Street
Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, a victim of international terrorism,
who was assassinated in Pakistan in February this year. US Deputy
Chief of Mission to the Philippines Robert M. Fitts and James
Hookway, Wall Street Journal Bureau chief, will receive the
plaque on behalf of Marianne Pearl, the widow of the murdered
journalist.
Two photographic
exhibitions will be held alongside the conference. One, organized
by Agence France Presse at the Westin Plaza, about terrorism
while another, at the National Museum, will focus on press freedom.
****
Press contacts in Paris: Roni
Amelan (+33 1) 45 68 16 50
or Isabelle Le Fournis (+33 1) 45 68 17 48
UNESCO Bureau of Public Information
And, from April 30 through May 4, in Manila: (632) 551-5555
For more information: http://www.unesco.org/press-freedom-day/
