World Association of Press Councils (WAPC) General Assembly and Executive Council Meeting

July 8-10 2009

Istanbul, Turkey

Report from Chris Conybeare, Secretary General

As we approach the occasion of a WAPC Executive Council and General Assembly gathering, I wish to share a few thoughts about the WAPC and our future direction.

First, it has been an honor for me to be chosen as Secretary General at the Bagamoyo meeting in November 2004.  While I have endeavored to provide service, I know that it is time to choose new leadership!

I have learned that Honolulu Hawaii is too isolated to be an effective location for a Secretariat whose members are on the Asian, European and African Continents.  Further, the United States is not a welcoming environment for the press/media council movement. True, Hawaii has one of the oldest media councils in the WAPC (founded in 1970), but we have always existed as an all-volunteer organization, with no paid staff and very little budget. It is also true that there are only 3 established news or media councils in the US—in Minnesota, Washington and Hawaii—although there are some efforts to start councils in California and New England.

I am sorry to say that the typical American attitude toward media councils was recently expressed in a meeting I had with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). It was indicated that while media councils are often very helpful to CPJ’s mission of documenting abuse of journalists, there is also a lingering mistrust of organizations that  purport to regulate (even “self regulate”) the press.  

This general mistrust and the fact that several WAPC members are governmental bodies are reasons why I have not been successful in finding money in the US to aid our organization’s development. Another barrier has been my inability to travel to make necessary contacts in the world of philanthropy. It will take a concentrated educational effort, especially in this economy, to garner US-based financial support.

Since several of our members who have found support among large international foundations (like the Ford Foundation) are from European countries (Sweden and Norway come to mind), I believe that the WAPC Secretariat would be better positioned if based outside the US. It should be based in a country making a transition to robust democracy, and in an environment where media councils are accepted by the community of journalists and media organizations.

It is sad to think that the years of propaganda against our organization, which occurred because some of our members were in places struggling with freedom of expression, still might influence attitudes about the WAPC. However, I believe this still may be the case. Of course we must stand up to such prejudicial thinking, but we also need to be strategic in how we take our message to the international community.

The WAPC is at a crossroads.  We have come back from near-death in 2003/2004 through the dedicated efforts of many, notably Mr. Anthony Ngaiza, then of the Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) and Mr. Oktay Eksi of the Press Council of Turkey.  When negative and destructive voices were raised against the WAPC, Oktay and Anthony redoubled their efforts to pull together a highly successful international conference at Bagamoyo in November of 2004. They recognized the value of combined strength and collective wisdom in the struggle for freedom of communication and high ethical standards by journalists, media workers and community advocates.

This conference led to the formal legal establishment of the WAPC in Turkey at the Istanbul meeting in June 2006.

We are certainly in better shape than we were in those rather dark days before Bagamoyo. Since 2004, our membership has increased dramatically, with the addition of councils in Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, and the renewed membership of Nepal.  We also saw a renewal of interests by Scandinavian countries, with observers from Norway and Sweden at our May 2007 Executive Council meeting at Nairobi.

However, we have experienced challenges. Political instability in Zimbabwe caused cancellation of our planned December 2008 meeting in that country. We have also suffered from a general lack of communication. I accept much of the responsibility for this latter problem. I had hoped that as outlined at our Nairobi meeting, I would be able to take a 1-year sabbatical from my faculty position at the University of Hawaii West Oahu and spend full time as WAPC Secretary General based in Tanzania. These expectations were not met due to new directions taken by my employer and lack of funding necessary for an extended sabbatical.

As an example of communication problems, I note that we have had no response from Executive Council members from Uganda, Zambia, and Swaziland in response to the calling of this meeting.  

It appears that the day-to-day challenges that are faced by each of our councils have limited the amount of time we are able to spend in communication with each other.  The good news is that WAPC members based in African nations were able on several occasions to come together at various regional meetings. While this permitted sharing of news and best practices among those in attendance, the WAPC members outside the African Continent were not able to meet and there has been little sharing among all members.

As we approach our July 2009 meeting in Istanbul, we face a rising tide of hostility toward journalists and media workers in virtually all our members’ countries. The repeated jailing of journalists and media workers in Azerbaijan and Zimbabwe, imposition of harsh media laws such a Kenya’s Communications Bill 2008, use of tax laws by Turkey to silence media critics, closure of broadcast stations and intimidation of journalists in Malawi, and use of contempt of court powers to threaten journalists with jail for refusing to divulge their sources in the US, are but a few examples.

In consultation with those affected, we have issued statements on media freedom issues this past year regarding conditions in Zambia, Tanzania, S. Korea, and Turkey. Much more in this regard would be possible, but needs to be initiated by those directly involved. Once again, communication is the key.

Now more than ever we need to find ways to use our collective strength to assist those facing oppression for practicing basic human rights envisioned by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Our meeting in Istanbul must address:

·       The need for vastly improved communication.

·       Development of a strategy for dealing with hostility and acts of impunity against the media in our member states and internationally.

·       Selection of officers, particularly a Secretary General who can provide leadership, can foster communications, and is positioned to seek funding for WAPC organizational development.  It is my view that this person should be associated with one of the WAPC’s African member councils.

The WAPC has great potential, but this potential has yet to be fully really realized. Our international association can help members achieve best practices through shared experiences at occasional conferences and through communication via the Internet. Similarly it is possible that our collective voice will help tip the scales of public opinion in favor of media independence and freedom. 

I hope that we will be address organizational and communication issues during our time together here in Istanbul and that the WAPC will emerge as a stronger organization.

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and

ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.