UNITED
NATIONS, April
23 -- Is the
UN Department
of Public
Information's
job
to make people
think better
of the UN, to
play Western
journalist, or
to tell the
truth?
The
issue was
raised Tuesday
in the UN
Committee on
Information,
by India's
Deputy
Permanent
Representative
Manjeev Singh
Puri among
others.
Manjeev
Singh
Puri said the
the UN's
meeting
coverage
should not,
when a
resolution is
not adopted in
the Security
Council, use
the word
“failed.”
That
of course is
the way most
Western media
reported it,
when two
resolutions on
Syria were
vetoed. But
shouldn't the
UN Secretariat
answer to all
of its
members, not
just the
Western ones?
This
issue has also
arisen in
connection
with the UN's
withholding of
its
reports from
the public,
granting
largely
Western wire
services 48
hours to spin
the reports
before they go
online.
Inner City
Press
spoke with
more
ambassadors on
Tuesday, who
criticized
this practice.
Most
said that the
UN should put
the reports
online as soon
as they are
finished, to
avoid this
type of spin,
which hurts
the UN's
credibility.
The issue has
been raised,
including to
DPI, and that
answers are
forthcoming
has been
promised.
Tuesday
morning
among other
speakers, Iran
complained
that some of
its TV
channels are
blocked by
other
countries. In
the afternoon
Cuba spoke
of illegal
broadcasts
into its
country,
interfering
with its duly
registered
stations.
Russia
spoke of the
need to
continue
reporting on
World War Two
-- ironic in
light of a recent
“urgent”
inquiry by DPI
into a single
tweet
mentioning
#WW2 --
and concluded
its
presentation
by speaking in
Chinese, in
the spirit of
multi-lingualism.
Argentina
bragged
that Spanish
is the Number
Two language
in which the
UN is
accessed
online. One
wondered about
the “working
language” of
French and of
its costs, as
has The
Economist.
Lebanon's
representative
cited Tawakuul
Karman of
Yemen, again
ironic given
DPI's formal
censure of
Inner City
Press for
having signed
her into
the UN as a
guest, and her
subsequently
daring to
speak at the
UNTV
stakeout as
the Security
Council
considered her
country, Yemen.
For
the record,
the stakeout
rule cited can
be respected -
but what of
DPI adopting
other, pro
journalist
rules like due
process in the
accreditation
and complaint
process?
UNESCO
spoke of a UN
Plan to
protect
journalists,
which would be
much
needed. Not
enough has
been said
about the editor in
Mali facing
charges for
reporting on
the windfall
to coup leader
Amadou Sanago.
It's
unclear what
the UN did
while a reporter
was in danger
in
Central
African
Republic
recently. And
what of Prageeth,
disappeared
in Sri Lanka?
These are only
examples.
DPI's
chief, only in
place since
August, spoke
last and
addressed
questions
member states
had raised,
including some
we reported
yesterday as
not
having been
substantively
answered.
On how
DPI evaluates
itself,
reference was
made to
“results based
management” --
polling done
by UN
Information
Centers after
their
briefings,
whether
participants'
“opinion of
the UN
improved after
attending
briefings.”
Should
that be the
measure?
Certain it
would be for
the public
relations
department of
a corporation.
But is the UN
different?
Might it be
DPI's job to
simple
increase
information
about the UN
and to answer
questions?
Think,
for example,
of Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's and
his top lawyer
Patricia
O'Brien's
decision that
legal claims
the UN
inadvertently
brought
cholera to
Haiti was “not
receivable.”
One
approach --
actually
adopted by the
UN -- might be
to stop
answering
questions
about the
decision, and
hope it is
simply not
written about
as much. But
doesn't
“Public
Information,”
as opposed to
“Public
Relations,”
connote that
answers should
be given?
And
isn't there a
theory in
which
addressing
problems
ultimately is
better for an
institution
than refusing
to answer
them?
Who
in the UN
system
evaluates the
effectiveness
of the
communications
strategy of UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous? He refuses to answer
including on
DPI's UN
Television
any questions
from Inner
City Press,
for example
about the 126
rapes in
Minova by the
Congolese
Army, then
later
spoon-feeds
half-answers
to friendlier
media.
How
should the
effectiveness
of this
communications
strategy be
evaluated?
This wasn't
answered on
Tuesday.
On
UNTV, in
fairness,
while for
months it
would not
stream on the
Android
platform and
so one stopped
even checking,
Tuesday once
prodded and
checked, it
works. So
there's one
improvement.
There
remain more
than 10
reforms
proposed by
the Free UN
Coalition for
Access back in
February, and
after-arising
questions
about how
photos
taking while
DPI was in
control of
Inner City
Press' office
were
shared and
then leaked
to BuzzFeed,
right after
that
publication
contacted
Ban's
spokesperson
about the raid.
One hopes and
expects that
the
answers
promised
include that
one.
Public
Information
means or
should mean
answering
questions, and
in the long
run that is
the best
approach.
Watch this
site.
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