UAE | Media
Journalists ethics initiative to be launched
An initiative on journalism ethics prepared by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is expected to be adopted by journalist associations and unions in the Middle East and North Africa in Dubai on Monday.
- By Abbas Al Lawati, Staff Reporter
- Published: 22:59 February 7, 2009
Dubai: An initiative on journalism ethics prepared by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is expected to be adopted by journalist associations and unions in the Middle East and North Africa in Dubai on Monday.
The initiative is expected to be a non-binding and voluntary programme that will attempt to regulate journalistic practices in areas of accountability, ethics, equality and objectivity among others.
The launch is being hosted by the UAE Journalist's Association at the Bustan Rotana Hotel in Dubai today and tomorrow, where a conference will be followed by the official launch.
Mohammad Yousuf, head of the UAE Journalists Association, said members of journalist unions from the Middle East, North Africa and a few South Asian nations are expected to be present.
A number of UAE papers adopted a similar voluntary code of conduct last year but faced criticism within UAE media for not abiding by it. Yousuf said that while abiding by the new initiative is entirely the media outlet's responsibility, a monitoring committee will be launched at the same time and will be comprised of members from the IFJ from various countries.
Violations of the initiative would not be punished, and instead, will only be reprimanded.
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"This has nothing to do with laws and policies, but an attempt by journalists to regulate themselves," said Yousuf.
He added that the initiative was tailor-made for the Middle East and North Africa region according to IFJ categorisation. "There are some differences between the initiative we will adopt and those that have been adopted in Europe and elsewhere. Every region has a specific version," he said.
Yousuf also said that trends and challenges to the media will also be discussed, such as the role of citizen journalism and bloggers.
He said it was difficult to accept bloggers as journalists because they did not fall under a framework of accountability and ethics that govern responsible reporting.
The two-day conference will be attended by prominent international, Arab and UAE media personalities who will highlight several media-related topics with a focus on ethics and the importance of commitment by media personalities to the code of ethics.
The first day will include three sessions, the first of which will be held under the title of 'Building of Democracy' by Habib Al Sayegh, the media advisor at Al Khaleej newspaper. Aidan White, Secretary General of the International Federation of Journalists, will give a presentation during this session, among other speakers.
The second session, titled 'Challenge of Pluralism and Diversity', will be run by Abdul Hamid Ahmad, Editor-in-Chief of Gulf News. 'Ethics in War times' will be the headline of the third session during which a number of journalists will speak about their experiences during war.
Sakhr Abu Al Own, AFP correspondent and official-in-charge of the Palestinian Journalists Union in Gaza, will speak about his experience during the 22-day Israeli war on Gaza.
- With inputs from WAM
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