Why journalism Matters --update
Welcome to the first update edition of WJM, a digest of news and observations. Also fitting because today is May 3, World Press Freedom Day when the UN honours journalism's global contribution
This update is a six-minute read
“The worldwide trend towards democracy and freedom of information and expression is a fundamental contribution to the fulfilment of human aspirations.”
World Press Freedom Day has been celebrated by the United Nations every year since 1991. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration which established the primary importance of a ‘free, independent, and pluralistic press’ for human development.
Every year UNESCO holds an international conference examining the state of international press freedom. In 2021 the get together returns to its origins in Windhoek in Namibia. The theme this year is Information as a Public Good.
As has become the norm in the time of Covid, this year’s conference is online. There is an impressive array of webinars and events available to look at and download for the journo-info junkies among you, available for up to 90 days after the conference ends. Click here to sign up and find out more.
Unfortunately, the latest Reporters without Borders (RSF) Press Freedom Index (2021), reminds us that freedom of expression and information is an ideal yet to be realised—even remotely— in many countries around the world.
Maria Ressa wins 2021 Press Freedom prize but is not free to leave the Philippines
Indefatigible investigative journalist Maria Ressa has been chosen for the prestigious UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize at this year’s World Press Freedom Conference.
Over a career spanning more than thirty years, Marie Ressa has worked as CNN’s lead investigative reporter for Asia , and the head of ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs. She has also been involved in many international initiatives to promote press freedom.
As WJM readers will know, in recent years, she has been under relentless attack online and through judicial processes in the Philippines. These are a result of investigative reports carried on the news outlet Rappler which she edits and manages.
She could not attend the prize giving ceremony in person because she is prevented by a court order from leaving the Philippines due to various legal cases brought against her by the government.
In her acceptance speech, given from Manila, she lost no time in venting her anger at the Duterte regime for its alleged assaults on press freedom and incompetence in dealing with the pandemic.
“…I also can’t travel because my nation is suffering the consequences of putting retired military generals in charge of a public health crisis, when political patronage and loyalty, not competence, is the metric of power.
“This is a time when lies and incompetence kill.”
Maria Ressa is also one of the leading figures highlighted in a new research report into online violence against female journalists. See below.
To watch her acceptance speech and to find out more about Maria and Rappler click here.
Female journalists around the world are subject to a ‘chilling tide of online abuse’
UNESCO and the International Centre for Journalists have produced a report that highlights a devastating rise in online violence aimed at female journalists—which often spills into violence in the real world.
The Chilling: Global Trends in Online Violence Against Women Journalists has been produced to coincide with Press Freedom Day.
The report is nothing if not comprehensive— which makes its findings both uncompromising and compelling.
It was conducted by a team of 23 international researchers, based on a global survey of 901 journalists from 125 countries.
It includes detailed interviews with 173 journalists and experts plus two large-scale case studies assessing over 2.5 million social media posts directed at prominent journalists Maria Ressa (The Philippines – laureate of the 2021 Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize) and Carole Cadwalladr (UK). There are 15 detailed country case studies and a literature review.
The report’s introduction does not mince words:
“There is nothing virtual about online violence. It has become the new frontline in journalism safety - and women journalists sit at the epicentre of risk.”
The report adds that ‘threats of sexual violence and murder are frequent and sometimes extended to their families’.
“Online violence against women journalists is designed to: belittle, humiliate, and shame; induce fear, silence, and retreat; discredit them professionally, undermining accountability journalism and trust in facts; and chill their active participation (along with that of their sources, colleagues and audiences) in public debate.”
For more information on the report click here.
Better data collection and analysis needed to fight Covid in India
The world has watched in horror over recent weeks as Covid-19 cases and deaths surge in India, overwhelming hospitals, supplies of oxygen and ventilators.
IndiaSpend is a data-driven investigative website that concentrates on sorting out the figures behind public issues, including the pandemic. Their investigations indicate that at least part of the problem stems from inadequate or incorrect data from public authorities.
According to the agency the central government has claimed that only two to four persons in every 10,000 vaccinated with either of the two COVID-19 vaccines being used in India are getting ‘breakthrough’ infections. (These are infections which occur when a vaccinated person contracts the virus).
But IndiaSpend says this calculation is based on incomplete data:
“…for nearly three months after vaccination began, the government's COVID-19 test form… did not check if those being tested had [also] been vaccinated. Cases of post-vaccination infection would therefore not have been detected and recorded, our ground investigation and review of documents shows.”
The news agency also says that state governments are not supplying accurate and timely information on those dying of the disease
According to one Indiaspend report daily new COVID-19 cases in India rose to over 350,000 on April 25, a day which saw 2,808 deaths.
But Indiaspend adds: “These are just the numbers we know. The numbers we do not know could be a lot more. We do not know how many more cases there could potentially be because of no testing, or because test results are not revealed.
“ More tricky is assessing the number of COVID-19 deaths. Going by several mediareports, the number of deaths at present is much higher than what is being officially documented. Reports suggest the number of fatalities in some cities are almost 10-15 times what is being revealed, particularly by crematoria, municipal administrations and other local governing bodies.”
Click here for more
A headline— and cartoon— worth cherishing
‘Putin on the Fritz’
Just when we thought the world had more than enough crises to deal with, World War III looked like it might come along and introduce itself…This headline and cartoon came from the WhoWhatWhy investigative journalism website in response to Putin’s military manoeuvres on the Ukrainian border last month. (Followed by his apparent change of mind.) To be continued…