Censorship
Bid of UN 2009
Echoed by UNCA
2012, How
& Who to
Cover
By
Matthew
Russell Lee: SLC,
NR
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 18 -- A
new demand for
censorship has
been made at
the
UN. As early
as 2009,
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon was advised to
"writ[e] to
professional
journalistic
bodies" about
Inner
City Press and two other
media, to
force more
positive
coverage.
Last
month, the UN
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations
demanded that
Inner City
Press
remove from a
story the name
of its fourth
French chief
in a row,
Herve Ladsous.
Now, the UN
Correspondents
Association is
demanding a
broader gag
order.
UNCA
President
Giampaolo
Pioli is
demanding,
after Inner
City Press
reporting that
he rented his
apartment to
Palitha Kohona
and later
granted
Kohona's
request to
screen in the
UN a war
crimes denial
film by his
Sri
Lankan
government,
that Inner
City Press
issue a
"public
apology" to
him and
representatives
of Reuters,
Bloomberg,
Voice
of America,
Al-Arabiya and
Agence France
Presse.
Their letter
is here; Pioli's
proposal is
now here.
Pioli's
proposed
statement,
supported by
the Big Five
or at least
their UN
bureau chiefs
would force
Inner City
Press to
"guarantee
that
my future
coverage of
the UN for
Inner City
Press will be
based
on scrupulous
fact checking
giving all
parties
involved the
right to
full reply and
it will not
involve other
UN
correspondents."
Would
this mean
that Inner
City Press
could not
report it even
if Pioli
rented his
apartment to
Herve Ladsous
of UN
Peacekeeping,
or relatedly
to French
Ambassador
Gerard Araud,
or his Italian
counterpart
Cesare Maria
Ragaglini?
How
could the
president of a
correspondents'
association be
trying to
dictate to
another
journalist how
and who to
cover?
While
threatening in
the
alternative to
continue a
kangaroo court
"investigation"
to
expel the
journalist,
which has
given rise to
physical
threats from
extremists in
the country to
whose
Ambassador Il
Presidente
rented his
apartment?
As
an aside,
while Inner
City Press has
even during
this process
gone back to
insert
comments from,
for example,
the second
Examiner to
resign (prior
to
resignation),
Inner City
Press is STILL
waiting for
responses from
Reuters
(Stephen J.
Adler),
Bloomberg
(Matthew
Winkler), AFP,
Voice of
America (Sonja
Pace) and
others - we'll
have more on
this.
Significantly,
Pioli's
demand that
"future
coverage of
the UN for
Inner City
Press will be
based on
scrupulous
fact checking
giving all
parties
involved the
right to full
reply" echoes
a complaint
made to Ban
Ki-moon by his
head Chief of
Management in
May 2009,
which was
exposed
by Inner City
Press.
According
to the
memo
to Ban, in
a May 8, 2009
meeting Kane,
Ban's top
lawyer
Patricia
O'Brien,
communications
chief Michael
Meyer, and now
former
spokeswoman
Michele Montas
and Department
of Public
Information
chief
Kiyo Akasaka
"propose[d]
writing
to
professional
journalistic
bodies which
regulate the
journalists
concerned as
well as
letters to the
Editors with
copies
to their
Companies'
Legal Counsel.
Should DPI
gather
sufficient
examples of
inaccurate
reporting, we
can consider
more formal
legal
responses such
as 'cease and
desist' or
'letters
before action'
sent
by outside
counsel."
At
least on
paper,
UNCA is one
such
"professional
journalistic
bodies."
Inner
City Press
at the June 18
noon briefing
asked Farhan
Haq, who was a
Ban Ki-moon
spokesperson
in 2009 and
remains one
now, follow up
questions
about
this advice
from Kane,
still with the
UN, to Ban.
Also still at
the
UN and
involved in
the 2009
meeting and
advice were
Patricia
O'Brian
and Michael
Myer;
Department of
Public
Information
chief Kiyo
Akasaka
is gone, and
his Austrian
replacement
Peter
Launsky-Tieffenthal
has yet to
take office.
Nevertheless
Haq,
twice referred
the question
to DPI,
specifically
to its News
and
Media division
which oversees
the Media
Accreditation
& Liaison
Unit which
said it would
renew Inner
City Press'
accreditation
on
June 4, after
three requests
made in light
of threats by
UNCA then
from Sri
Lankan
extremists.
On
June 4 MALU
said no; then
wrote a letter
charging Inner
City Press
with
"unprofessional...
misconduct"
for signing in
as a guest to
the UN Yemeni
Nobel Peace
Prize winner
Tawakkol
Karman.
So
in 2009 Ban
Ki-moon was
advised, to
combat
critical
media, to file
complaints
with
"professional
journalistic
bodies" --
like UNCA.
In
2012, UNCA and
its president
try to tell
Inner City
Press how to
cover the UN,
and who to
cover at the
UN, or face
expulsion; UNCA's
first vice
president Lou
Charbonneau of
Reuters files
a complaint
against Inner
City Press with MALU.
The
full phrase to
Ban Ki-moon
from Kane in
2009 was to
write to
"professional
journalistic
bodies which
regulate the
journalists."
Does UNCA
"regulate"
journalists?
Should
UNCA and its
President and
Executive
Committee be
able to censor
journalists?
Watch this
site.
Footnote:
past 6:30 pm,
before and
hastening
publication of
this analysis
(Inner City
Press had
still been
waiting for
Office of the
Spokesperson
for the
Secretary
General
transcript,
and mostly to
see what the
OSSG answer,
if any, might
be), Pioli
continued his
crusade,
proposing to
replace the
second
resigned Board
of Examination
member with
Ali Barada,
who has
already
expressed a
view of the
outcome of the
case.
No jury would
include such a
person; nor
should this
UNCA Board of
Examination,
already a
charade and
kangaroo
court. Barada
has been
informed of
the threats
triggered by
the Board
Pioli's asked
him to join as
a hanging
judge. Now
what?
, 
