Declaration on Digital Freedom

http://www.pen-international.org/pen-declaration-on-digital-freedom/declaration-on-digital-freedom-english/

Declaration on Digital Freedom

PEN International promotes literature and freedom of expression and is governed by the PEN Charter and the principles it embodies—unhampered transmission of thought within each nation and between all nations.

PEN recognizes the promise of digital media as a means of fulfilling the fundamental right of free expression. At the same time, poets, playwrights, essayists, novelists, writers, bloggers, and journalists are suffering violations of their right to freedom of expression for using digital media. Citizens in many countries have faced severe restrictions in their access to and use of digital media, while governments have exploited digital technologies to suppress freedom of expression and to surveil individuals. The private sector and technology companies in particular have at times facilitated government censorship and surveillance. PEN therefore declares the following:

1. All persons have the right to express themselves freely through digital media without fear of reprisal or persecution.

a. Individuals who use digital media enjoy full freedom of expression protections under international laws and standards.

b. Governments must not prosecute individuals or exact reprisals upon individuals who convey information, opinions, or ideas through digital media.

c. Governments must actively protect freedom of expression on digital media by enacting and enforcing effective laws and standards.

2. All persons have the right to seek and receive information through digital media.

a. Governments should not censor, restrict, or control the content of digital media, including content from domestic and international sources.

b. In exceptional circumstances, any limitations on the content of digital media must adhere to international laws and standards that govern the limits of freedom of expression, such as incitement to violence.

c. Governments should not block access to or restrict the use of digital media, even during periods of unrest or crisis. Controlling access to digital media, especially on a broad scale, inherently violates the right to freedom of expression.

d. Governments should foster and promote full access to digital media for all persons.

3. All persons have the right to be free from government surveillance of digital media.

a. Surveillance, whether or not known by the specific intended target, chills speech by establishing the potential for persecution and the fear of reprisals. When known, surveillance fosters a climate of self-censorship that further harms free expression.

b. As a general rule, governments should not seek to access digital communications between or among private individuals, nor should they monitor individual use of digital media, track the movements of individuals through digital media, alter the expression of individuals, or generally surveil individuals.

c. When governments do conduct surveillance—in exceptional circumstances and in connection with legitimate law enforcement or national security investigations—any surveillance of individuals and monitoring of communications via digital media must meet international due process laws and standards that apply to lawful searches, such as obtaining a warrant by a court order.

d. Full freedom of expression entails a right to privacy; all existing international laws and standards of privacy apply to digital media, and new laws and standards and protections may be required.

e. Government gathering and retention of data and other information generated by digital media, including data mining, should meet international laws and standards of privacy, such as requirements that the data retention be time-limited, proportionate, and provide effective notice to persons affected.

4. The private sector, and technology companies in particular, are bound by the right to freedom of expression and human rights.

a. The principles stated in this declaration equally apply to the private sector.

b. Companies must respect human rights, including the right to freedom of expression, and must uphold these rights even when national laws and regulations do not protect them.

c. Technology companies have a duty to determine how their products, services, and policies impact human rights in the countries in which they intend to operate. If violations are likely, or violations may be inextricably linked to the use of products or services, the companies should modify or withdraw their proposed plans in order to respect human rights.

d. Technology companies should incorporate freedom of expression principles into core operations, such as product designs with built-in privacy protections.

e. If their operations are found to have violated the right to freedom of expression, technology companies should provide restitution to those whose rights were violated, even when governments do not provide remedies.

Adopted by the PEN International Congress

Gyeongju, South Korea

September 2012

Intl Declaration of Principles of Professional Ethics in Journalism

INTERNATIONAL DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES OF PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN JOURNALISM

Principle I:

PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO TRUE INFORMATION

People and individuals have the right to acquire an objective picture of reality by means of accurate and comprehensive information as well as to express themselves freely through the various media of culture and communication.

Principle II:

THE JOURNALIST’S DEDICATION TO OBJECTIVE REALITY

The foremost task of the journalist is to serve the people’s right to true and authentic information through an honest dedication to objective reality whereby facts are reported conscientiously in their proper context, pointing out their essential connections and without causing distortions, with due deployment of the creative capacity of the journalist, so that the public is provided with adequate material to facilitate the formation of an accurate and comprehensive picture of the world in which the origin, nature and essence of events, processes and states of affairs are understood as objectively as possible.

Principle III:

THE JOURNALIST’S SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Information in journalism is understood as social good and not as a commodity, which means that the journalist shares responsibility for the information transmitted and is thus accountable not only to those controlling the media but ultimately to the public at large, including various social interests. The journalist’s social responsibility requires that he or she will act under all circumstances in conformity with a personal ethical consciousness.

Principle IV:

THE JOURNALIST’S PERSONAL INTEGRITY

The social role of the journalist demands that the profession maintains high standards of integrity, including the journalist’s right to refrain from working against his or her conviction or from disclosing sources of information as well as the right to participate in the decision-making of the medium in which he or she is employed. The integrity of the profession does not permit the journalist to accept any form of bribe or the promotion of any private interest contrary to the general welfare. Likewise, it belongs to professional ethics to respect intellectual property and, in particular, to refrain from plagiarism.

Principle V:

PUBLIC ACCESS AND PARTICIPATION

The nature of the profession demands that the journalist promote access by the public to information and participation of the public in the media, including the right to correction or rectification and the right to reply.

Principle VI:

RESPECT FOR PRIVACY AND HUMAN DIGNITY

An integral part of the professional standards of the journalist is respect for the right of the individual to privacy and human dignity, in conformity with provisions of international and national law concerning protection of the rights and the reputation of others, prohibiting libel, calumny, slander and defamation.

Principle VII:

RESPECT FOR PUBLIC INTEREST

The professional standards of the journalist prescribe due respect for the national community, its democratic institutions and public morals.

Principle VIII:

RESPECT FOR UNIVERSAL VALUES AND DIVERSITY OF CULTURES

A true journalist stands fro the universal values of humanism, above all peace, democracy, human rights, social progress and national liberation, while respecting the distinctive character, value and dignity of each culture, as well as the right of each people freely to choose and develop its political, social, economic and cultural system. Thus the journalist participates actively in the social transformation towards democratic betterment of society and contributes through dialogue to a climate of confidence in international relations conducive to peace and justice everywhere, to détente, disarmament and national development. It belongs to the ethics of the profession that the journalist be aware of relevant provisions contained in international conventions, declarations and resolutions.

Principle IX:

ELIMINATION OF WAR AND OTHER GREAT EVILS CONFRONTING HUMANITY

The ethical commitment to the universal values of humanism calls for the journalist to abstain from any justification of, or incitement to, wars of aggression and the arms race, specially in nuclear weapons, and all other forms of violence, hatred and discrimination, specially racialism and apartheid, oppression by tyrannical regimes, colonialism and neocolonialism, as well as other evils which afflict humanity, such as poverty, malnutrition and diseases. By doing so, the journalist can help eliminate ignorance and understanding among peoples, make nationals of a country sensitive to the needs and desires of others, ensure respect for the rights and dignity of all nations, all peoples and all individuals without distinction of race, sex, language, nationality, religion or philosophical conviction.

Principle X:

PROMOTION OF A NEW WORLD INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION ORDER

The journalist operates in the contemporary world within the framework of a movement towards new international relations in general and a new international information order in particular. This new order, understood as an integral part of the New International Economic Order, is aimed at decolonization and democratization of the field of information and communication, both nationally and internationally, on the basis of peaceful coexistence among peoples and with full respect for their cultural identity. The journalist has a special obligation to promote the process of democratization of international relations in the field of information, in particular by safeguarding and fostering peaceful and friendly relations among States and peoples.

By way of an appendix to her book, The Manipulated Press: A History of Philippine Journalism since 1945 (second edition), writer Rosalinda Pineda-Ofreneo shares with us these principles, along with the following explanation: “The UNESCO has conducted consultative meetings with international and regional organizations representing some 400,000 working journalists since 1978. In such meetings, participants expressed support for the UNESCO Declaration on Fundamental Principles Concerning the Contribution of the Mass Media to Strengthening Peace and International Understanding, to the Promotion of Human Rights and to Countering Racialism, Apartheid and Incitement to War. They also came out with a common understanding of various principles of journalistic ethics culled upon from existing codes and international legal instruments. (This declaration of International Principles) is the output of the fourth UNESCO consultative meeting held in Prague and Paris in 1983. It embodies the sentiments of the following professional associations: International Organization of Journalists (IOJ), International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), International Catholic Union of the Press (UCIP), Latin-American Federation of Journalists (FELAP), Latin-American Federation of Free Workers (FELATRAP), Federation of Arab Journalists (FAJ), Union of African Journalists (UJA), and Confederation of ASEAN Journalists (CAJ). Filipino journalists may find it useful to adopt and promote among themselves.”

Source: The book “Press Freedom: The People’s Right” by Ed Aurelio C. Reyes, pp. 161-165.

Retyped for information campaign by: Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.

Declaration of Principles of Journalism Education

WJEC Declaration of Principles of Journalism Education

Declaration of Principles of Journalism Education
World Journalism Education Congress
Singapore, June 2007

We, the undersigned representatives of professional journalism education associations share a concern and common understanding about the nature, role, importance, and future of journalism education worldwide. We are unanimous that journalism education provides the foundation as theory, research, and training for the effective and responsible practice of journalism. Journalism education is defined in different ways. At the core is the study of all types of journalism.

Journalism should serve the public in many important ways, but it can only do so if its practitioners have mastered an increasingly complex body of knowledge and specialized skills. Above all, to be a responsible journalist must involve an informed ethical commitment to the public. This commitment must include an understanding of and deep appreciation for the role that journalism plays in the formation, enhancement and perpetuation of an informed society.

We are pledged to work together to strengthen journalism education and increase its value to students, employers and the public. In doing this we are guided by the following principles:

1. At the heart of journalism education is a balance of conceptual, philosophical and skills-based content. While it is also interdisciplinary, journalism education is an academic field in its own right with a distinctive body of knowledge and theory.

2. Journalism is a field appropriate for university study from undergraduate to postgraduate levels. Journalism programs offer a full range of academic degrees including bachelors, masters and Doctor of Philosophy degrees as well as certificate, specialized and mid-career training.

3. Journalism educators should be a blend of academics and practitioners; it is important that educators have experience working as journalists.

4. Journalism curriculum includes a variety of skills courses and the study of journalism ethics, history, media structures/institutions at national and international level, critical analysis of media content and journalism as a profession. It includes coursework on the social, political and cultural role of media in society and sometimes includes coursework dealing with media management and economics. In some countries, journalism education includes allied fields like public relations, advertising, and broadcast production.

5. Journalism educators have an important outreach mission to promote media literacy among the public generally and within their academic institutions specifically.

6. Journalism program graduates should be prepared to work as highly informed, strongly committed practitioners who have high ethical principles and are able to fulfill the public interest obligations that are central to their work.

7. Most undergraduate and many masters programs in journalism have a strong vocational orientation. In these programs experiential learning, provided by classroom laboratories and on-the-job internships, is a key component.

8. Journalism educators should maintain strong links to media industries. They should critically reflect on industry practices and offer advice to industry based on this reflection.

9. Journalism is a technologically intensive field. Practitioners will need to master a variety of computer-based tools. Where practical, journalism education provides an orientation to these tools.

10. Journalism is a global endeavor; journalism students should learn that despite political and cultural differences, they share important values and professional goals with peers in other nations. Where practical, journalism education provides students with first-hand experience of the way that journalism is practiced in other nations.

11. Journalism educators have an obligation to collaborate with colleagues worldwide to provide assistance and support so that journalism education can gain strength as an academic discipline and play a more effective role in helping journalism to reach its full potential.

from http://rconversation.blogs.com/rconversation/wjec_declaration_of_princ.html

Principles and Premises on the Press

PRINCIPLES AND PREMISES ON THE PRESS (1991)

RESPONDING TO A PERCEIVE NEED for explicit unities on the most basic of points concerning the mass media in the Philippines, the following are basic points proposed as an integrated premise for views, discussions and resolutions on the media’s fundamental role in democratic society, and its corollaries in terms of media accountability, ethics, freedom, economics, external and internal interrelationships, professionalism and skills development.

1) Sovereignty resides in the people, and all public authority emanates from them; public service is a public trust, and public accountability should be upheld at all times.

2) The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (1966), as well as the Constitution of the Philippines, guarantee to every citizen the right to be informed accurately and adequately about all matters of public consequence and the right to freedom of speech, of expression and of the press; these rights should be enjoyed by all citizens, regardless of social standing, gender, ethnic stock, religious and philosophical beliefs, culture, political affiliation and geographical location within the Philippine archipelago, and inequities on this should be opposed, diminished and eliminated. These rights of individual citizens should be enjoyed collectively by the citizenry, they being the sovereign body politic.

3) Processes entailed in social, political, economic, spiritual and cultural development of the Philippines require the full approval by, and active mobilization of, the citizenry to whose collective benefit such processes should primarily redound.

4) Adequate communication should flow between the people and their government, among groups of people and among individual citizens, in order to forge and certify the people’s sovereign and democratic will on general and specific policy matters, and in order to make possible their mobilization and synergism.

5) The mass media should primarily be a public service institution existing to serve fully these basic rights of the citizenry. The mass media can and does also exist as an industry, with both the owners and their personnel seeking to derive income from their operations, but quality and magnitude of public service should be the paramount standard of performance of media establishments and mediapersons to deserve any form of support from the public. Entertainment is a legitimate component of media content but this should not be allowed to overshadow, much less to contradict, the media’s public affairs functions.

6) In democratic society, facilities of mass communications are generally accessible for use by individual citizens, groups of citizens and the public, in order to guarantee and realize the full enjoyment of the people’s right to know and their right to be heard. Owners and personnel of these mass communication facilities should always be imbued with the spirit of giving paramount priority to public service, pushing them to upgrade capabilities and to exert maximum efforts to seek out the information the people have the right to know and the views the people have the right to express and disseminate these to the broad citizenry.

7) Basic editorial standards for public relevance valuation, plausibility and source reliability should be the only criteria guiding decision-making in the pursuit and treatment of news and information, including opinions, thus differentiating legitimate editorial judgments from censorship and self-censorship.

8) Whenever any media establishment is externally coerced and prevented from serving fully the people’s right to be informed and their right to be heard and heeded, there is press freedom repression; whenever any media establishment upon its own volition shortchanges the public for any reason on these basic rights or refuses to assert these rights, there is unethical media practice. This applies also to the freedom and ethics of individual journalists. The decisive element is the quality of output, although the matter of increasing or maintaining remuneration, like payola envelopes and advertising contracts, from vested interests, including news sources, is acknowledged as a major contributory factor for unethical media practices. Also responsible for unethical practices are media owners who do not adequately uphold the right of their personnel to job security, fair compensation, humane working conditions, self-organization and collective action, and opportunities for skills upgrading and career advancement.

9) Problems involving press freedom and media ethics can be effectively addressed by mediapersons only through a concerted, multilateral effort that encourages the broadest base of varying forms and levels of participation, coupled with developing and enlisting the active participation of the broad citizenry.

10) Maximum efforts should be exerted by the media community and the citizenry to optimize the role of the mass media in making the force of logic prevail over the logic of force. Justifications for the latter, like impediments to freedom of information and expression, and obstacles to justice, and violations of public trust and accountablity, should be denounced, opposed and eliminated by mediapersons shoulder-to-shoulder with the rest of the citizenry. In this context, the non-combatant status of journalists, like all other civilians, should be safeguarded and recognized by all, and its guarantee should be recognized and asserted as part of the functions of basic govrnance.

UPON A STRONG UNITY on these points, agreements on more specific points may be forged, and various specific projects and activities may be encouraged, launched, coordinated, publicized, evaluated and carried forward.

Originally titled “Proposed Integrated View on Media Freedom, Ethics and Unity,” this was first presented as a draft by Ed Aurelio Reyes, secretary general of the Philippine Movement for Press Freedom (PMPF), to fellow participants in the “Conference on the Role of the Media in Democratization and People’s Participation” at the Development Academy of the Philippines, Tagaytay City, on May 31 - June 1, 1991. Copies of this document were sent to various opinion leaders in the media community and presented to the House Committee on Public Information, before its publication in the PMPF’s Press Freedom Advocate. This has also been ratified by the Fifth National Convention for Press Freedom of August 31, 1991 after being adopted and endorsed earlier that month by the Second National Congress of the National Union of Journalist of the Philippines (NUJP) and the Founding Meeting of the Press Freedom Alliance of Southrn Tagalog (PRESSFAST).

Source: The book “Press Freedom: The People’s Right” by Ed Aurelio C. Reyes, pp. 166-168.

Retyped for information campaign by: Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.

PFA Principles on Reporting Ethnic Tensions

Press Foundation of Asia Principles on Reporting Ethnic Tensions

Reporting Ethnic Tensions

(From IPC: The principles below evolved out of a nine-nations journalism conference conducted by the Press Foundation of Asia in Davao City (Philippines) in April 1970).

1. Factual accuracy in a single story is no substitute for the total truth. A single story which is factually accurate can nonetheless be misleading.

2. Prejudice may sell newspapers but newspapers should resist the temptation to exploit human fears for commercial gains.

3. In mixed societies, editors should be aware of the danger of feeding by selective reporting, common prejudicial stereotypes about groups. Generalisations based on the behaviour of an individual or a small number of individuals are invariably unjust.

4. When there is potential for communal tension, there should be a constant effort to investigate and expose the underlying causes.

5. Statistics can be used to excite passion. It should always be checked and interpreted.

6. All stories of communal, racial or religious nature should be scrupulously ascribed to their source. The authority of the source should be properly evaluated.

7. Advertisements of an unfair discriminating nature should not be accepted.

8. Editors have a responsibility for the tone and truth of the letters' column.

9. Harm can be done by distortion in translation, especially in areas where several languages are spoken. Words and phrases may have different connotations among different groups.

10. It should be recognised that editorial comment, however benign, does not necessarily compensate for the harm done by a misleading news report.

11. Journalists should always use cool and moderate language, especially in headlines and also in display. No concession should be made to rhetoric. Lurid and gory details and emotive reference to past history should be avoided.

12. In mixed societies where extra-territorial loyalties are often alleged and are a cause of tension, great care should be taken about stories imputing interference by a foreign power unless it is clearly established.

13. The traditional newspaper standards of checking for accuracy should be applied with even greater rigour in any stories involving racial, religious or communal groups. Statements should not be accepted at face value from any source, including official ones, and where necessary, these should be accompanied in the news columns by corroboration and interpretation.

14. Unverified rumour is not the proper content of news columns especially when there is great danger in speculation about violence.

15. When there is violence, particular care should be taken about publication of the first incidents.

16. Every effort should be made to portray ethnic groups in other than conflict situations.

17. When violence has broken out, the role of government in the supply of information is crucial. There must be a continuous supply of information from this source to prevent rumour, speculation and needless panic. In these circumstances, a close working relationship between the Press and the Government is essential and there should be no division of interest.

18. Casualty figures can cause chain reactions, and experience has shown that official figures may be under or over estimated.

19. Pictures can distort reality. An unrepresentative picture may lie even more than a news story and add to prejudices.

20. Journalists, particularly foreign correspondents, should not report crises without a sufficient understanding of the background of events and trends.

21. In newspaper groups publishing in different languages, care should be taken that they speak with the same voice on explosive issues and in times of tension. The cumulative effect of differing coverage and opinion is deadly.

22. In mixed societies with underlying causes of tension - social, economic or religious - newspapers and the broadcast media should initiate investigative and interpretative stories with sociological content. These would spread understanding and also help disperse an environment of resentment and suspicion which can turn a minor incident into a riot.

Source: Independent Press Councils

Save the Media Worker

SAVE THE MEDIA WORKER (1989)

1) Work for the media worker’s job security; secure and assert reasonable agreements with media owners on criteria and due process concerning separations;

2) Assert the media worker’s right to self-organization, specifically to form their own strong unions and associations;

3) Stop the killing of journalists and extend assistance to the respective families of our fallen colleagues; and

4) Put an end to the unreasonable press restrictions and stop the harassment of mediapersons.

These four calls / demands were issued by the five-organization Task Force to Save the Media Worker which was formed in March 1989. The campaign for these culminated in a Symposium on Media Workers Conditions on Labor Day, May 1, 1989. Signatories: Ricardo C. Valmonte, President of the Philippine Movement for Press Freedom (PMPF); Antonio Ma. Nieva, Chairman of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP); Marcelo S. Lagmay, president of the National Press Club (NPC); Joel Paredes, chairman of the Kapisanan ng mga Manggagawa sa Media ng Pilipinas (KAMMPI) and Arturo Subido, president of the Press Photographers of the Philippines (PPP). The campaign was precipitated by mass layoffs from two newspapers.

Source: The book “Press Freedom: The People’s Right” by Ed Aurelio C. Reyes, pp. 174.

Retyped for information campaign by: Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.

Deklarasyon para sa Pamamahayag sa Sariling Wika

DEKLARASYON PARA SA PAMAMAHAYAG SA SARILING WIKA (1989)

TAIMTIM KAMING NANININDIGAN na ang pagpapahalaga ng mamamayang Pilipino sa sariling wika ay bahagi ng pagtataguyod at paggigiit sa kanilang pambansang dignidad at kasarinlan, at ang kanilang wika ay dapat papaglingkurin sa ganitong dignidad at kasarinlan.

MAHIGPIT ANG AMING PANINIWALA na ang mmga mamamahayag ay gumaganap ng napakahalagang papel sa pagpapaunlad at pagtataguyod sa paggamit ng sariling wika tungo sa antas ng pagkilala at paggalang na kailangan nitong makamit sa ating lipunang pinaghaharian ng wikang dayuhan at nakapailalim sa iba pang anyo ng dominasyong banyaga.

MARUBDOB ANG AMING PAGKILALA sa pananagutan ng pamahayagan, sa diwa ng demokrasya, na bigyang-daluyan ang mga mithiin, karaingan at mungkahi ng karaniwang mga mamamayan sa paraang pinakamalapit sa kanilang damdamin at kaisipan, at sila’y paalaman ukol sa lahat ng karapatan nilang malaman sa wikang pinakamadali nilang maunawaan.

SAMAKATWID, kaming mga mamamahayag sa sariling wika ay mahigpit na nagkakaisang itatag ang isang samahang magtataguyod sa ipinahayag naming mga paninindigan, paniniwala at pananagutan.

This declaration was signed by about 50 journalists in the vernacular (from Metro Manila and the provinces of Laguna, Quezon, Batangas, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Zambales and Bataan) towards the formation of the Bukluran ng mga Mamamahayag sa Sariling Wika on February 17, 1990. It is enshrined as the preamble of the BUKLURAN’s constitution. The founding officers of the organization were Rolando Fadul, president; Ben Esquivel, Deo Macalma and Ed Aurelio Reyes, vice-presidents; Doming Mirasol, secretary-general; Edna Constancia, treasurer; and Ninoy Sofranes, auditor.

Sanggunian: Ang aklat na “Press Freedom: The People’s Right” ni Ed Aurelio C. Reyes, pp. 175.

Tinipa sa computer at ipinamamahagi ni: Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.