12142024Sat
Last updateFri, 13 Dec 2024 1pm
>>

Global Press Freedoms Organisations begin Press Freedom Mission to the United Kingdom

Amid deep international concern about press freedoms in the United Kingdom, an unprecedented international mission to London begins today to investigate the British government's actions relating to newspaper regulation and the handling of revelations of state surveillance.

EFI Jetrion4900_Definitely_StaticBanner_620x120_GlobalPrintMonitor-US

Top-level meetings are being held with the Secretary of State for Culture Maria Miller MP; John Whittingdale MP the Chairman of the Culture Select Committee; Guardian editor, Alan Rusbridger; freedom of expression and civil society groups; professional bodies; industry representatives; and academics to discuss worrying developments in the UK.

Previous press freedom missions have been to countries such as Ethiopia, South Africa, Libya, Yemen, Tunisia, Mexico, Honduras, Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Myanmar, but this is the first ever mission to the United Kingdom.

The mission has been organised by the Paris-based World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). Chief Executive, Vincent Peyrègne said:

"The WAN-IFRA membership is deeply concerned by the British authorities' treatment of the profession of journalism and its attempts to control the public debate.

"The British government's actions have far reaching consequences across the globe - particularly within the Commonwealth - and any threats to the independence of journalism in Britain could be used by repressive regimes worldwide to justify their own controls over the press.

"We will endeavour to investigate all elements that threaten the United Kingdom's position as a bastion for free and independent media with the same rigour as we have approached other international press freedom hotspots in nearly 70 years of defending freedom of expression worldwide."

The delegation will meet with as many different organisations as possible in order to publish a report in February outlining its conclusions that will be disseminated to other parts of the world.

www.wan-ifra.com

comments

Related articles

  • Latest Post

  • Most Read

  • Twitter

Who's Online

We have 9763 guests and one member online

We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential for the operation of the site, while others help us to improve this site and the user experience (tracking cookies). You can decide for yourself whether you want to allow cookies or not. Please note that if you reject them, you may not be able to use all the functionalities of the site.