IFJ Congress 2004 Athens May 25-30 Report of the XXV IFJ World Congress Journalism on the move Including: New IFJ Constitution All Resolutions Adopted The IFJ Working Programme 2004-2007 IFJ Z 8181 INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF JOURNALISTS Time Out: Congress participants relax at the Acropolis Published in Belgium by the International Federation of Journalists O 2004 International Federation of Journalists International Press Centre Residence Palace, Block C 155 rue de la Loi B- 1040 Brussels Belgium No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher. Editor Responsible: Aidan White Designed by Ruth Harland Mosaik info@mosaik.co.uk Printed by Druk. Hoeilaart, Belgium REPORT OF THE XXV IFJ WORLD CONGRESS PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS BY CHRISTOPHER WARREN Friedrich * EbertBonn Stiftung Bibliothek * In Greek poetry, Cavafy said: As you set out for Ithaka hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery. On our own long road to our own Ithaka, each Congress gives us an opportunity to remember how far we have come on our journey and to celebrate the adventures and discoveries we've made. It gives us the opportunity to plan where the next three years will take us. This great federation exists to give power to journalists: power to fight for press freedom and human rights, power to fight for economic security. The role of the IFJ is to help journalists build that power through the collective strength that comes from organising in independent trade unions committed to press freedom. We have much to be proud of in our history. We have grown to represent over half a million journalists in 130 organisations in over 105 countries. And through our member organisations, we not only speak for almost all independently organised journalists, we speak for a majority of journalists around the world. Similarly, our hosts here in Greece have a proud history of fighting for press freedom and trade union rights. And just as we share much of our past, we also share the challenges of the future with our colleagues here in Greece. These are the changes to the way we work and increasing employer hostility to trade unions. The strength and solidarity that journalists have shown in Greece in confronting those challenges merits our admiration. As the Seoul Congress foreshadowed, the past three years has been a period of reaching out. This has included: • The historic agreement between the Federation of Arab Journalists and IFJ officers to bring the last significant grouping of independent journalist organisations into the IFJ family. The first meeting of the IFJ Executive Committee in South Asia, building on work that sees this Congress have the largest representation from that region The expansion and strengthening of regional structures and the office network. But the work of the IFJ over the period- like the work of so many journalists and journalists' organisations- has been punctuated like exclamation marks by September 11 in New York and Washington, October 12 in Bali and March 11 in Madrid. The changes these events have wrought, have shaped our work in ways that could not have been foreseen. Shaped, but not bent. Like journalists and journalists' organisations everywhere, the IFJ understands instinctively what these attacks on democratic society mean. It's an understanding that's born from our own long experience. Journalists have long been targets of terrorists. And in the very shadow of September 11, we were tragically reminded that journalists would remain targets by the murder of Martin O'Hagan in Northern Ireland and Daniel Pearl in Pakistan. But in that understanding, we refuse to accept human rights should be sacrificed to fear. Z 8181 1 JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE 2 We understand, to borrow from Cavafy again: Laistrygonians, Cyclops, wild Poseidon-- you won't encounter them unless you bring them along inside your soul, unless your soul sets them up in front of you. The IFJ and its member unions have led the way in monitoring, documenting and fighting- those attempts by governments to use this new climate to restrict press freedom and human rights. We released our first report within six weeks of September 11 and have carried on as we started. It's been a lonely fight at times- but it's been necessary and it's been right. The global violence of the past three years has renewed our commitment to safety of journalists. Too many friends and colleagues have been killed, injured, taken hostage or abused. In the past 18 months, Iraq has been synonymous with many things. For journalists, it has become synonymous with the unnecessary and tragic death of our colleagues. There are many unanswered questions, particularly surrounding the events on April 8 at the Palestine Hotel. Immediately as it happened, our American affiliates demanded a reckoning from the US government. We join with them in continuing to demand answers and we have the right to expect them. The IFJ has responded to this challenge with more than just press releases. We have: ● ● Worked with sympathetic employers to establish the International News Safety Institute Organised and conducted safety training for journalists and other media workers around the world Continued to build and use the safety fund to make the world safer for journalists. Once again, this Congress needs to recognise the Danish Journalists Union who- over 12 years- have led the way in raising money for the safety fund. Without them, there simply would not be a fund, and the world would be a more dangerous place as a result. But all our efforts are not enough. We need the help and support of international law to safeguard journalists and journalism. I'm not one of those who consider the Geneva Conventions" quaint". We would all be better off if more governments signed up to the 1977 Protocols and recognised the critical role of the International Committee of the Red Cross to help protect journalists. But the role of journalism in conflict has changed dramatically since the conventions were drafted over half a century ago. It's time they were amended to reflect the special role of media workers and the special responsibility of combatants to respect and protect journalists. A bit more of respect and a bit less cavalier disregard would have seen significantly fewer of our colleagues die in Iraq and fewer in the future. - But after a grim three years for journalist safety, on the eve of Congress came some tremendous news. On June 29 last year, Ersa Siregar and Fery Santoro from the Indonesian television network RCTI were taken hostage by the Free Aceh Movement, GAM, on the Langsa road in northern Sumatra. In the 10 months since, IFJ unions around the world have joined with our colleagues in the Alliance of Independent Journalists in Indonesia to lobby, bully and cajole the GAM, the government of Indonesia and the Indonesian military to enable them to be freed. It was a campaign that took us to despair when Ersa was killed by the Indonesian army in a skirmish on New Years' Eve. We continue to demand a full accounting of his death. As part of the campaign, we had invited Fery's wife Mayawati Hendringham to be a special guest at this Congress. For the best of reasons, she can't be with us. Just last week, Fery was finally released in the jungle of Sumatra to a delegation of journalists, including AJI Secretary, Nezar Patria, who is here with us tonight. His release was a triumph of international journalistic solidarity and sheer national courage. It redeems our pledge never to give up when one of our own is in danger. That is a pledge we all renew at this Congress. I want to pay tribute to the work of our Indonesian colleagues who placed their own lives in danger. Briefly last week, it looked like Nezar and the rest of the delegation negotiating Fery's release had themselves been taken hostage. REPORT OF THE XXV IFJ WORLD CONGRESS I know Fery's family would want me to thank all those unions who participated in the campaign. And to our friends here from Indonesia-- Nezar, Eddy and Akuat-- I ask you to do this one last thing: take back to Fery and Maya from this Congress our admiration and respect for their courage and our very best wishes for their future. There is no doubt that these campaigns for safety, for press freedom, for human rights will continue to dominate. the work of the IFJ over the next three years. But our work will also be dominated by other challenges. The world of work is changing under the impact of globalisation. Work itself is changing: Full- time journalists report they are working harder than ever. Yet more and more are engaged in some form of insecure work: freelancers, casuals, contractors. These changes are reinforcing inequalities in journalism, particularly the historical patterns of discrimination against women. Employers are more aggressively challenging settled social compacts. They are attempting to wind back long won and settled rights. In countries from south Asia to northern Europe to Latin America, employers are using individual contracts to undermine collective agreements. Employers are, themselves, globalising, as more and more journalists in different countries find themselves working for a common parent corporation. The insidious concept of shareholder value has come in to trump the principles of editorial independence. Public broadcasting is denigrated and undermined. All this is not just bad for journalists- it is undermining the ability of the media to play its critical democratic role. Journalists are fighting back. I referred earlier to the battles here in Greece. Similarly, the courageous battle by our German affiliates should inspire us while reminding us just how difficult this battle can be. Almost every union represented here has an experience to share and lessons to teach us. And we all have lessons to learn. These challenges are coming to dominate the work of the IFJ as they have come to dominate the work of national affiliates. This means we need to bring our international solidarity to bear, to support colleagues in dispute. We need to build on our work of organising globally in global corporations. We need to ensure that equality is part of the mainstream of this work. We need to share information. We need to work together to track the impact these changes are having in our own countries so we're all better placed to defend and advance the rights of journalists to jobs of integrity and respect. It is by how we deal with the challenges that our time has given us that will determine how we deserve to be judged. This Congress can be proud of the way its Executive Committee, its General Secretary, Aidan White, and its secretariat and staff have handled the challenges of the past three years. Some of the Executive Committee have announced they will not be continuing. Four in particular- Gustl Glatfelder, Lee Seh- yong, Yoshitane Okuda and Juan- Antonio Prieto- have, between them, put in half a century of work to the Executive Committee. None of them are easily replaced. All will be deeply missed. It's been a hard journey these past three years. But we've emerged stronger, more united and more determined. We've emerged ready to continue our journey as a fighting federation committed to free and independent journalists working together in independent journalist unions. 3 JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE OPENING CEREMONY The opening of the 25th IFJ World Congress took place at the Zappion Hall in Athens on May 25. More than 250 delegates, observers and guests attended the ceremony. Nikos Megrelis on behalf of the Journalists Union of Athens Daily Newspapers and Aidan White, General Secretary of the IFJ, welcomed participants and introduced the following speakers who gave welcoming remarks on behalf of the government, the city and the organisers of the Olympic Games: ● Aidan White, General Secretary Theodoros Roussopoulos, Minister of State, government spokesman; Dimitrios Avramopoulos, Minister of Tourism; Dora Bakoyiannis, Mayor of Athens; and Manolis Mathioudakis, President of the Journalists Union of Athens Daily Newspapers. and Gianna Angelopoulos, President Athens Olympic Finally, the opening ceremony concluded with the Presidential Address of Christopher Warren, President of the IFJ. In his address he noted the achievements of the IFJ in the last years, drew the meeting's attention to the IFJ's founding role in the newly established International News Safety Institute( INSI), and outlined the challenges facing the Federation in the coming years. The following day, May 26th, Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary and Christopher Warren welcomed delegates and opened the working proceedings of the Congress, which was held at the Divani Caravel Hotel, Athens. GUEST SPEAKERS FROM THE GLOBAL TRADE UNION Movement Guy Ryder, the General Secretary of International Confederation of Free Trade Unions( ICFTU), congratulated the IFJ on its achievements of the last years and said that the ICFTU placed enormous value in the work of the Federation. He stressed the need for ever better cooperation and campaigning within the global union movement, in which the IFJ was an active member. In his address he paid tribute to those journalists and media workers that put themselves in harms' way. He expressed his sadness at the loss of over 1,200 journalists' lives during the last 12 years, including, the 43 killed in Iraq since the war began. He congratulated the IFJ on being the prime mover in the creation of the International News Safety Institute( INSI). He emphasised the need for journalists to be members of independent and democratic unions and what a vital role they played to inform, to expose political and business corruption. The ICFTU'S ambition was not simply to react to change, he said, but to shape the process of change. Information and the media were more than ever before essential to the whole trade union movement. He said that the problems related to media concentration and their impact on working rights and quality of information were of concern to all workers and the entire trade union movement. In his address Philip Jennings, General Secretary, Union Network International( UNI), congratulated the IFJ, and the General Secretary Aidan White, on the added value they gave to the entire global union movement. He applauded the Federation on the establishment of the International News Safety Institute. UNI would participate in it. He said that there was a strong need for even better cooperation within the global union movement, particularly to confront media concentration. The major challenge was a concentration of business power in the media sector. He referred to the common visions and objectives shared by UNI's Media and Entertainment Sector and the IFJ on a wide range of subjects from media concentration, abuses of labour rights, the fight for creators rights, for freedom of expression, and for cultural diversity to the common efforts in defence of independent and adequately financed public broadcasting. " We all have to meet a new organising challenge", he said," from organising and confronting the exercise of global media power to the crisis faced by the growing number of freelance staff." He said that the media internationals FIA( the actors), FIM( the musicians), the IFJ and UNI were meeting this organising challenge. In recent years membership was on the increase and new generations of creators were joining trade union organisations. REPORT OF THE XXV IFI WORLD CONGRESS WORKING RULES AND ORDER OF BUSINESS The Congress elected the following delegates to the Presidium, who had been nominated by the Executive Committee: ● ● Michael Klehm, DJV, Germany Bob Norris, NUJ, Great Britain and Ireland Martine Simonis, AGJPB, Belgium Franco Siddi, FNSI, Italy The following tellers were elected: Juan Antonio Prieto, FAPE, Spain Jane Worthington, MEAA, Australia ● ● Tore Sjolie, NJ, Norway ● Yuzuru Saito,( Minpororen), Japan Congress adopted the Working Rules. A roll call of unions present took place. REPORT OF THE GENERAL SECRETARY In his introduction the General Secretary said that journalism in the world was in a dramatic phase of transition and change. Unions had to recognise that there were new forms of work and building solidarity was a matter of urgency. He congratulated unions who had put themselves behind the newly established International News Safety Institute. IFJ unions had financially contributed to the Institute by more than 50%. He said the recognition that poor social conditions had a direct impact on media quality and more should be done to strengthen journalists' unions and associations was now recognised by major donor organisations. This was an important step forward for the IFJ and its members. He welcomed the new dialogue with the Federation of Arab Journalists, which has been vital in ensuring the process towards press freedom in the Arab world. He said the first safety seminar in Iraq was organised by the IFJ itself. This was a symbolic but critical example of practical solidarity at work. He thanked the Treasurer for his work in helping to make the finances clearer, more efficient and transparent. He thanked those unions who had contributed to the Safety Fund, which use should be expanded more in the coming years. The profile of the IFJ has risen. However, there were still problems, and he drew the Congress' attention to the issue of gender equality, which had not been taken up by many unions. There was also a need for more transnational cooperation and in- time information on disputes and strikes. More progress was needed in some regions, such as Russia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. More work had to be done in Africa as well as in Latin America, which had been most hit by globalisation. The work of the Asia Pacific region had moved ahead and new perspectives were being prepared including the need to establish more effective and viable relations with journalists' groups in China. In its work with international organisations, the IFJ has not been able to develop, effective and substantial programmes of co- operation with the International Labour Office( ILO) although work with UNESCO continued to be a core element of IFJ work and efforts were being made to strengthen activities with all relevant UN agencies. He stressed that regional networks for trade union building and sustainable development to strengthen the unions on the ground had been the main objectives in this Congress period. Building alliances and being part of the wider workers' movement was crucial. He thanked the IFJ staff including those working in regional offices for their commitment to the IFJ and its' work. The new Executive Committee was to review staff matters including his own position to make the IFJ even more efficient to face the upcoming challenges. He thanked the outgoing Executive Committee and he particularly thanked Gustl Glattfelder, Germany, Juan Antonio Prieto, Spain, Yoshitane Okuda, Japan and Seh Yong Lee, South Korea, who were retiring and who all had contributed a great deal to the growth and success of the IFJ over the past ten years. DISCUSSION OF THE GENERAL SECRETARY'S REPORT Seh Yong Lee, South Korea, who apologised for leaving the Congress early, thanked the IFJ for the great work achieved in South Korea. Igor Lubchenko, Ukraine, told delegates about the difficult situation of mass media in the Ukraine. He said the IFJ should carry out a training session for journalists in post- socialist countries about economic development of media and social and professional rights of journalists. The IFJ should propose to the UN General 6 Assembly to organise a special session on press freedom issues. Hashhuu Naranjargal, Mongolia, reported on the deteriorating situation for journalists in Central Asia. In Mongolia more than 30 journalists were facing legal problems. Youness M' Jahed, Morocco, gave a report about press and information freedom in Morocco, which was marked by the promulgation of the amended press code with new provisions to restrict press freedom and repress journalists. Alpha Abdallah Sall, Senegal, said that the fight for better social conditions in achieving press freedom was paramount in his country, where many journalists could not make a living for their families. Chaudry Rehmat Ullah Shamsi, Pakistan, gave a detailed report on media and journalism in Pakistan, which faced enormous problems emanating from globalisation and rapid media growth. Shyam Khosla, India, congratulated the IFJ for its excellent work in the last years. He asked the new Executive Committee to conduct a detailed study on the status of journalists, especially regarding their social conditions and the increasing number of short- term contracts and freelances. Michael Chia- Chang Yui, Taiwan, welcomed IFJ support for a motion regarding restrictions imposed by Chinese authorities on the work of Taiwanese journalists. She said Taiwanese journalists were not allowed accreditation at UN meetings due to a veto by China. Suresh Akhouri, India, supported the work of the IFJ and asked the secretariat to respect the norms of the local unions and to respond to their needs. Lee Sangk- ki, South Korea, introduced the East Asia Journalists Forum, which was established seven months ago. He hoped the Forum would serve as a powerful tool of cooperation between IFJ and East Asia. Additionally, he drew the Congress' attention to the nuclear crisis in North Korea. Madan Lal Talwar, India, and Norila Mohd Daud, Malaysia, both thanked the IFJ and other unions in supporting their struggle for more press freedom in their countries and the region. Sam Rithy Duong Hak, Cambodia, said that press freedom was violated continuously in Cambodia. The JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE main media was under political control. Much more needed to be done to confront these problems. Na'em Toubassi, Palestine, thanked the IFJ for the missions and support to journalists in Palestine. The latest actions in Palestine exceeded the atrocities in Iraq. There was no freedom of movement for journalists and no international recognition of the status of journalists. Israeli authorities were physically oppressing Palestinian journalists while undermining their professional status. He asked the IFJ to condemn these actions. He hoped the relationship with the Federation of Arab Journalists would be further strengthened. Training and protection for Palestinian journalists were needed. Juan Antonio Prieto, Spain, said the last period of the Executive Committee had been very difficult, especially following September 11 and the impact of globalisation on journalism. He said the work of the IFJ would be difficult in the future and relations between the IFJ and EFJ had to be reviewed. He congratulated Hans Verploeg, the former IFJ Treasurer, for his proposals on the development of EFJ and IFJ work. He hoped that the new Executive Committee would be able to find a reliable solution to support the IFJ General Secretary in dealing with his overwhelming workload and responsibilities. Andreas Kannaouros, Cyprus, called for a concerted counter- attack on the threats on all fronts posed to journalists. He said that there should be an increase in IFJ staff including the regional offices and members of the Administrative Committee should participate more actively. He welcomed the acceptance of the Union of Press Workers( Basin- Sen) of Cyprus to the IFJ and he hoped the IFJ would help in the continuation of the struggle to unite the island of Cyprus. Hans Verploeg, Netherlands, urged the Congress not to forget press freedom issues in repressed countries where the IFJ had no members including China, Cuba and Burma. He referred to a letter written by him regarding the structure of the IFJ. The time was ripe to reinforce and streamline the organisation for difficult times ahead. There should be a more balanced and transparent structure not dominated by one language or region. Paolo Serventi Longhi, Italy, said that journalism today was weak. The EFJ, which had done very good and important work in recent years, had to be strengthened and the relationship between the IFJ and the regions had to be reinforced. REPORT OF THE XXV IF WORLD CONGRESS Mogens Bjerregaard, Denmark, told delegates that there was a need for improved co- ordination among unions and the IFJ. Mario Guastoni, France, appreciated that the work on globalisation had started within the IFJ secretariat. A very good report had been published regarding media concentration in Central and Eastern Europe. He called for the establishment of a group on media concentration as had been agreed by the last Congress in Seoul. Jeremy Dear, UK and Ireland, outlined the need for the defence of public service broadcasting. He believed that the Congress should adopt a global public broadcasting campaign. Gnanasiri Kothigoda, Sri Lanka, supported this proposal. Uli Remmel, Germany, reported on the recent conflict with newspaper employers in Germany which he said was a signal for Europe in terms of the deterioration of standards, and had to be fought together. Martins Morim, Portugal, said that employers did not accept basic social rights in Portugal and the situation of both journalism and unionism had dramatically deteriorated. Linda Foley, USA, drew attention to the importance of the freedom of employees to chose a union. She said in the US the right to unionise did not exist anymore. She referred to the Chinese Daily News dispute in Monterey Park, California, where journalists and media workers were not allowed to join a union. The American unions and the IFJ had protested against the anti- union policy of the employers. She said this long- running battle for union recognition and bargaining rights by 150 media staff was a shocking example of how international media employers disregard core labour values. Arnold Amber, Canada, said that his union had won many cases through arbitration. The Newspaper Guild, part of the Communication Workers of America, had established a website to openly discuss media issues and to form a coalition with civil society interested in receiving quality information. He urged unions to use similar instruments and reach out for coalitions. Mitsuru Osamura, Japan, noted that recently two Japanese freelance journalists had been killed in Iraq. He also informed the meeting about the efforts taken in Japan to promote public service broadcasting. The President outlined the circumstances of the killing of the two freelance journalists. The IFJ expressed its deep sorrow for these latest killings. He called for a moment of silence and reflection by the delegates in mourning for all of the colleagues who had been killed in Iraq and elsewhere in recent years. The Congress stood for a minute of silence. Cheque mate! Australian participants Ruth Pollard and Alan Kennedy from the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance present General Secretary Aidan White, right, with a sizeable donation of 100,000 Euro for the Safety Fund. MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT& ARTS ALLIANCE ABN 84 054 775 596 PO BOX 723 STRAWBERRY HILLS NOW 2012 TEL:( 02) 9833 0999 FAX( 02) 9303 0833 National Australia Bank Limited OXFORD SQUARE RANCH S ORFORD STREET SYDNEY AUSTRALIA TERTAINME PAY THE SUM OF One hundred thousand Euro PAYEE ONLY GOTABLE DATE € 100,000 TO THE ORDER OF IFJ Safety Fund Ropoleo ARTS For and bad MEDIA ENTERTAMMENT& ARTS ALLIRICE TRUST Black FOR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES ONLY 8 JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE Zuzana Krutka, Slovakia, talked about the problems journalists are facing in Slovakia, especially regarding lack of protection and weak social status. In his reply to the debate, the General Secretary welcomed the comments, suggestions and statements. He said all of the points made would be recorded and acted upon. One of the greatest challenges was the need for a better regional cooperation to help weak national unions in areas of poor economic and social conditions to grow. On the issue of safety, he noted that the previous night another editor, this time from Montenegro had been killed. Safety would remain high on the IFJ agenda. The Report of the General Secretary was unanimously agreed. GUEST SPEAKERS FROM INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS UNITED NATIONS HIV- AIDS CAMPAIGN- UNAIDS Leyla Alyanak, Advocacy and Communications Director of UNAIDS, outlined the complex issue of AIDS. She said quality journalism had the power to put an informed spotlight on the AIDS crisis. In many regions HIV infection rates were rising. The lack of information was still a major reason for the growing AIDS crisis. AIDS posed a major challenge for journalism, since there was a need for creative and coll ethical writing about it in all world regions. The scale and quality of treatment was at the centre of AIDS reporting today, but questions of funding, questions of poverty, sex, drugs, human rights, etc were all part of the AIDS debate. She said the United Nations had launched a media initiative to establish a broad alliance of media partners against AIDS. She asked the IFJ to take part in this debate. She also referred the meeting to the World AIDS Campaign to which the ICFTU had aligned itself and hoped that the IFJ would also play an important role. The General Secretary thanked Leyla Alyanak for her presentation and said that the IFJ would indeed become more actively engaged in the issue of AIDS. OLYMPIC TRUCE CENTRE Stavros Lambrinidis, director of the International Olympic Truce Centre, addressed the Congress and called upon journalists to support the call for a pause in hostilities around the world during the Olympic Games, an initiative inspired by a ceasefire between warring states during ancient games. " You cannot fight and play at the same time," he said. He underlined the importance of media and journalists in Out in the open: congress delegates and guests enjoy the Athens atmosphere REPORT OF THE XXV IFJ WORLD CONGRESS carrying the message of peace surrounding the truce proposal. The idea had won the support of dozens of prime ministers, heads of states and members of royal families. Leaders of most major countries had signed the pledge to halt conflict during the sporting event, including Pope John Paul II, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and former US president Bill Clinton. The roots of both the truce and the Olympics dated back to the 9th century BCE. The idea was revived in 1993 to allow athletes from Yugoslavia to participate in the 1994 games. He said that with the help of journalists and media, the peaceful message of the Olympics could have a resonance in many parts of the world that were suffering because of regional conflicts. PANEL DISCUSSIONS JOURNALISM, SPORTS AND GLOBAL MEDIA The Olympic games came home in 2004, but were the games in Athens a fresh start for the world's premier sporting occasion? With new doping revelations, concern over corruption and television rights deals that deny public access to major events, the love- hate relations between sports and media are ever more difficult. This debate, organised on the day prior to the opening of Congress, looked closely at the future of the Olympic movement in the age of media globalisation; at the responsibility of media, which plays such an important role in the exploitation of sports events; and at the work of journalists as they prepared for the biggest media invasion in the history of Greece. Keynote Speaker: Jens Sejer Andersen, Journalist and Sports Campaigner Panel: Moderators: Mrs. F. Palli Petralia, Alternate Minister of Culture Theresa Zabell Lucas, European Parliamentarian and Olympic Gold Medal Winner Duncan Pruett, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions Alan Kennedy, Former sports editor Sydney Morning Herald Nikos Megrelis, General Secretary, JUADN Søren Wørmslev, IFJ Alan Kennedy, senior editor for the Sydney Morning Herald, opened the discussion with a declaration that as sport becomes a dominant transnational business, it is no longer enough for journalists to look the other way or pretend that it is not part of their job to investigate these relationships that often border on corruption. The public has a right to know how much they have paid to bring the circus to town. He said the first step should be to get some distance between sports journalists and the groups on whom we're reporting. Jens Sejer Andersen, journalist and sports campaigner, asked why resources are expended on match reports only, and not diversified enough to cover all aspects of an industry, which is increasingly political, commercial and has an important social impact. He said the credibility of media depends on the ability to defend and promote high ethical standards everywhere in society, on the basis of full and true and transparent information. Facts and information are never neutral and journalism cannot be passive when such a strong culture as sport releases its powers in the making of our lives. Journalism has to analyse, scrutinize and bring to light the positive and negative effects of sport, locally and globally. In this respect it is reasonable to demand that media promote more variety in the sports picture in order to support the right of individual athletes to shape their own sporting culture. As in all sectors of society media must ensure an open debate and free flow of information. Media should work altogether for the Freedom of expression in sport and in sports media, he added. Another issue worrying participants was the fact that few women occupy high profile positions in international sports management. This discrimination is combined with marketing campaigns suggesting that sport and men are synonymous. These actions undervalued the role of women in international sport management, said Theresa Zabell Lucas, MEP, sports journalist and Olympian. Lucas highlighted the importance of Gianna Angelopoulos' appointment as the first woman President of an Olympic Games Organising Committee. Duncan Pruett, campaign co- ordinator, ICFTU, presented the Oxfam, Global Unions and Clean Clothes campaign which aims to bring the Olympic values of ethics and fair play to the sportswear industry. He said that the ICFTU was hoping to give campaigners around the world the good news that the sportswear companies have committed to positive action in this area before the opening of the Athens Games. There were also hopes that the IOC has accepted its responsibilities and would lead the way to fair play for the hard working millions who service the global sports industry. The workers, mainly women, will be the main beneficiaries of any gains made by this campaign, and, speaking 10 JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE for everyone present, he added" we think they deserve a medal too." MEDIA AND WAR: THE BATTLE FOR SAFETY AND QUALITY The world is a dangerous place and so is journalism. The war in Iraq has highlighted a safety crisis for media and it poses hard questions about the role of media in conflict zones. How are we meeting the challenge of news safety? Can we change international law to bring justice to the victims of violence? And how are media and journalists confronting threats to professionalism posed by embedding policies, the ruthless demands of political and military spin doctors? Is impartiality out of the question? And, perhaps, most to the point, how does the IFJ promote solidarity among journalists within Iraq and the Arab world at this moment of truth for world journalism? Keynote Speaker: Chris Cramer, President of INSI and Managing Director of CNN- International Panel: Moderator: John Pilger, Journalist and Author Åsne Seierstad, War Correspondent and Writer Knut Dörmann, Deputy Head of ICRC Legal Division. Yannis E. Diakogiannis, Awarded War Correspondent, Ta Nea Newspaper Aidan White, General Secretary, IFJ Chris Cramer opened this powerful debate on media safety by reminding the Congress of the dangerous place that the world is for journalists. Cramer referred to the fact that at least 43 journalists and media staff had been killed to date in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003. Cramer called for the journalism community and media organisations to work to ensure that all journalists are protected to the highest standards. " We are, quite simply, targets these days," said Cramer, " It's hunting season against the media- and for some people it's a round the year sport." Delegates had raised serious questions over the role of media in conflict zones, and called for more solidarity among journalists to meet the challenge of news safety, legal protection and training in an increasingly hostile environment. Cramer posed the question:" How much longer can we turn a blind eye to the fact that journalists are no longer neutral and never will be again". At the same time, Cramer also highlighted the unprecedented level of cooperation between networks, where commercial pressures have been put aside in order to ensure the safety of staff working in the field. The debate was propelled forward by journalist and author, John Pilger, who questioned the notion that all journalists are neutral." Journalists are never neutral and the truth is that governments are killing us and we are being targeted," said Pilger. The vulnerability of freelancers in the field is central to the discussion on safety in journalism. Åsne Seierstad, acclaimed freelance journalist made the point that freelancers are" not afforded the luxuries of the full protection offered by global media organisations"." You can never be safe in a war zone," she said. She said that a debate was continuing in certain Scandinavian countries on whether or not it is appropriate to send a freelance as a war correspondent. She herself had not had safety training nor did she go to Iraq with appropriate equipment. Knut Dörmann, Deputy Head of ICRC Legal Division, raised the issue of the legal rights of journalists in conflict situations, enshrined by the Geneva Convention and the subsequent protocols. He said the current rules may be enough to provide protection, but the problem is one of enforcement and whether governments are ready to follow up on violations of international law when they occur. If journalists are directly targeted in a conflict zone this would constitute a war crime. However, he highlighted the fact that" journalists are, of course, not protected against attacks if, and for as long as, they take direct part in hostilities. Journalists may lose, not their right to protection as a civilian, but de facto protection if they stay too close to a military unit or get too close to a military target". He noted that the ICRC specializes in the humanitarian issues related to the disappearance of journalists, captivity in wartime and/ or detention in situations of internal disturbances and tension. The main issue is the recognition of attacks against journalists in conflict situations as an international war crime. Dörmann stressed the" need for training, dissemination and implementation of laws in the field". Another perspective came from award- winning Greek journalist Yannis Diakogiannis of Ta Nea, who talked vividly of his experience covering wars from Bosnia and Belgrade to Iraq and Afghanistan. Like Seierstad he recognised that more can be done to protect journalists, REPORT OF THE XXV IF WORLD CONGRESS but much still depends on luck, timing and the uncontrollable circumstances in which media staff find themselves. A number of questions and comments were made from the floor in a lively discussion and Jeremy Dear, General Secretary, NUJ UK, welcomed solidarity between global unions and media organisations in the quest for safety in the field, however he raised the need to engage in real industrial dialogue between global unions and certain media corporations who did not recognise unions and the role they have to play. Moderator Aidan White welcomed the growing recognition of media and journalists groups of the need for sensible and professional safety policies and concluded the panel by reaffirming the key role of the newly- formed International News Safety Institute( INSI) which provided unprecedented opportunities to make safer journalism a reality even in the most dangerous areas. BUILDING SOLIDARITY FOR GENDER EQUALITY All the issues on the Congress agenda affect women- conflict, strategies for confronting the challenges of globalisation, quality in media, and the future working programme of the IFJ. The panel examined why gender issues are still on the margins, how to bring the gender action plan into the centre of IFJ work and the role of training. One crucial issue was the need for strategies to give voice to the regions. Keynote Speaker: Kadhy Cisse, Senegal Panel: Moderator: Rosanne T. Koelmeyer Anderson, Sri Lanka Bettina Peters, European Journalism Centre Nadezhda Azhgikhina, Russian Union of Journalists Elisabeth Costa, President FENAJ, Brazil Solveig Schmidt, IFJ Gender Council Steering Committee Solveig Schmidt outlined Gender Council achievements in the course of the last three years: the creation of a Steering Committee comprising ten members, the identification of regional coordinators, the organisation of gender seminars in Latin America, Central Asia and Western Africa and the expansion of IFJ work in this field. Keynote speaker Khady Cisse said there is increasing awareness that women need to play an active role in the fight against discrimination. The concept of gender is still misunderstood and often confused with different notions of feminism. In many countries legislation is not favourable to gender equality. In many areas, Islamic family law is the reference point. In Senegal, for example, women salaries are lower than their male counterparts not because of employers but because the labour code favours men. She said unions should develop capacity building programmes targeted at women; they should report regularly on the conditions of women; and they should establish an alert mechanism covering countries that violate international standards regarding equality. Finally, she said unions could publish an annual report on the conditions of women in media and trade unions, highlighting cases where unions challenge discrimination. Beth Costa supported this. In Latin America the concept of gender in the unions provides a strong weapon against a male- only, one- way- culture. In media, the misconception continues that articles by women will contain a" female" point of view. The unions must continue to fight this. Women journalists must primarily be considered as professionals. To strengthen the importance of the union support, Nadezhda Azhgikhina said that cooperation between the Russian Union of Journalists and the Women Journalists' Union had brought gender into the mainstream of RUJ policies. She reported on the IFJ- LO- TCO Central Asia gender workshop. All IFJ affiliates should support the Plan of Action. From an Asian perspective Rosanne T. Koelmeyer Anderson reported on the difficult situation in Sri Lanka where trade unionism is a new phenomenon and the struggle for journalists' rights takes place in a hostile environment. Unions do not have mass membership. Many colleagues fear for their lives and don't join unions fearing it will threaten their right to earn a living. Even in this difficult context women journalists suffer further discrimination. Women do not have access to senior posts, cannot choose among editorial subjects to cover, and do not get much media coverage. Union solidarity must be improved. She proposed the adoption of a code of conduct on fairness to women. Bettina Peters, from the European Journalism Centre, talked about the feminisation of the profession, the role of women in the union, and gender in journalism training. More and more women enter journalism, she said, but " feminisation" too often implies a general decline in working conditions and wages. Employers offer less money to female journalists and use flexible working time arrangements to pay less. Unions rightly fear that this 11 12 JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE could become the norm and could damage the rights of all journalists. Regarding the role of women in the unions, she said in many countries( notably in Africa and in countries of the former Soviet Union) there are women journalists' or women media associations. Women active in association work tend not to be involved in the union. In some cases, cooperation between the two organisations is good, but often it is not. As a result, women's issues may not be taken up by the union. At the same time, policies developed by women associations may be ignored in collective bargaining. One solution could be to establish joint committees of the two structures to exchange as much as possible expertise. One reason female journalists are denied access to career opportunities is that they may miss out on training opportunities. She said investment in human resources, training of staff and encouraging participation by women should be key demands by unions. GLOBALISATION: THE CHALLENGE FOR JOURNALISTS' UNIONS Media concentration, global conglomeration, harsh cuts in editorial budgets and a new world of work in the converging media environment: the information revolution has surely brought its share of headaches for journalists and their unions. The panel pointed out their responses to the crisis, considering further strategies to create and develop a counter- culture of transnational union solidarity. The debate also analysed the current reactions in the developing world and the necessary partnerships that have to be established on the regional level. Keynote Speaker: John Nicols, The Nation, New York Panel: Moderator: Linda Foley, TNG- CWA, United States Jeremy Dear, NUJ Great Britain and Ireland Paolo Serventi Longhi, FNSI, Italy Tuwani Gumani, Media Workers Association, South Africa Christopher Warren, President, IFJ principles of the profession in a global economy, based upon quality, independence and public service values. The debate was led by John Nichols, who highlighted the current" battle between journalists and big media" on the international stage. In a lively intervention Nicols outlined a profound crisis for journalism within the US, which he warned could spread to other regions of the world. He called for journalists' organisations to build up coalitions with civil society groups in order to confront the media concentration process. Paolo Serventi Longhi emphasised the implications of the current media concentration in Italy, underlining that the current trends in the United States have already been echoed on the global stage. He recognised the importance of the Italian case and he welcomed the solidarity mission that had visited Rome earlier in the year. The Italian case prompted other speakers to insist on the need to support journalists' unions in transition countries and to protect journalists' sources and liberties. Linda Foley, President of the TNG- CWA, argued strongly for a focus on organising issues for unions. Cross- border solidarity and campaigning against the influence of bigmedia and media concentrations were bringing different groups together in the US. She highlighted the importance of unions working together and drew attention to the case of Reuters in which American and British unions had worked together developing strategies to confront the company over issues, which affected their members equally. The Reuters example was also taken up by Jeremy Dear of the NUJ in Great Britain and Ireland. This was a concrete example of practical solidarity and provided a model of cooperation that had to be taken up and further developed. He also took up the question of protection of journalists and the general defence of journalists' rights. He said there was a need to defend fundamental liberties and journalists' sources in the wake of global trends towards restricting civil liberties arising from the so- called" war on terror." The panel sketched out the crisis of globalisation in media, which threatens standards of journalism and democracy and underlined the need to confront this situation with a coalition of media people and civil society. The debate focused on the increasing global concentration of media and attacks on public service values in media- particularly broadcasting- and called for a return to core REPORT OF THE XXV IFJ WORLD CONGRESS QUALITY, INDEPENDENCE AND PUBLIC SERVICE VALUES This panel focused on political and economic pressure on journalists in the current environment. The attention was raised on quality and editorial independence in the age of advertorials, the future of public service values in a global media system, protection of standards and ethics, mechanisms to maintain quality and regional perspectives. These themes were developed in the background papers presented to Congress," Building Solidarity for Quality Media" and" Journalists' Rights and Globalisation". Keynote Speaker: Jean Réveillon, General Secretary, European Broadcasting Union. Panel: Moderator: Gabriel Baglo, Senegal, Africa Regional Office Martine Simonis, AGJPB, Belgium Guillaume Chenevière, CertiMedia, Switzerland Arnold Amber, CBC Canada and Canadian Media Guild example of the Belgian law requiring a collective agreement in media companies that wish to obtain or renew a broadcasting licence. Finally she said that the principle of protection of sources has to be defended especially since 11 September 2001 and the subsequent attacks on civil liberties by most of the Western governments. Guillaume Chenevière said that after the first World Summit on Information Society, and in the view of the second Summit to be held in Tunis in 2005, it is essential to state that quality media-and in particular broadcast media- are a priority for developing countries. He presented the ISAS BC 9001 standard developed by CertiMedia. This quality certificate sets goals for broadcasting, such as the satisfaction of the public, accuracy of information, diversity of the programming, innovation, ethics, transparency and management. A dozen broadcasters around the world have already shown interest in the standard. He said that CertiMedia has also been asked to develop similar standards in the press sector. Arnold Amber opened the panel by recalling that public service media have three core ingredients: quality, independence and public service values. The role of the unions of journalists is also to stand up for quality. EBU General Secretary Jean Réveillon said that public service broadcasting has never been more essential than in the current context of globalisation and the" war on terror". People need and want to be informed. He emphasised the threat that media concentration constitutes against pluralism and independence, adding that the EBU and the IFJ share common interests on that issue. Gabriel Baglo described the situation of the broadcasting sector in West Africa, where democracy is generally progressing but governments are still reluctant to reduce control over media and to liberalise the broadcasting sector. He noted that the press has a satisfactory level of independence in many countries in the region. He was concerned by the weakness of the journalists' unions and associations in Africa, which are mainly focused on working conditions. They need to develop their activities in the field of quality and independence in journalism, he said. Martine Simonis said that the basic principle for quality was the respect of the public and of human intelligence. She insisted on the need for professional training and ethical guidelines. She said that professional rights are a full component of quality media and she gave the REPORTS FROM REGIONAL MEETINGS AFRICA The Africa Regional meeting began with discussion on the General Secretary's( International office) report on Sub- Saharan Africa, a report from the Africa office, and a brief overview from the Africa sub- regions. The reports were discussed and endorsed as follows: Due to the number of countries involved and geographical size of the continent, the Africa Office requires at least one more organizer/ project officer to support the work of Gabriel Baglo, the Director of the IFJ Africa office. The key areas of specialization needed are trade union development and training, campaigns and communications( incorporating the web site and publications). That Africa affiliates improve on paying their dues to the IFJ and the Africa office be mandated to follow up on this. The Africa regional advisers need to liaise very regularly and work together with the Africa office and the IFJ secretariat on the IFJ's overall working programme and activities and, on issues specific to Africa. All the Africa affiliates are requested to file regular progress and status reports to the Africa and International offices. The first such report should be filed by the end of the third quarter( September 2004). The report is also to be accompanied by a draft working programme for the next three years from 13 14 JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE each union covering core issues of trade union. development, collective bargaining, professional rights and training, safety and protection of journalists, press freedom and gender rights. The reports and working programme will also form the basis of an IFJ annual report on the status of journalists in Africa proposed by IFJ Africa Projects Officer. These initial( and subsequent reports) and draft working programme should form the basis of a meeting of all African affiliates to be held on the African continent within the next six to twelve months.( Morocco volunteered to look at the possibility of hosting the first meeting). A key objective of the meeting is to discuss modalities for the formal formation of an African Federation of Journalists. That the Africa office, Project Officer and Regional Advisers communicate to the General Secretary about the possibility of one of the African countries hosting one of the next series of executive meetings, and one of the next two congresses. All Africa affiliates are requested to coordinate efforts on press freedom and freedom of expression with the Director of the Africa office, IFJ Projects Officer for Africa and Safety officer. African affiliates agreed to discuss further about ways of supporting last years campaign targeted at the Africa Union calling for: the release of all imprisoned African journalists, reopening of media houses shut down by undemocratic governments, and a repeal of anti- media legislation in African Countries. EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA The meeting first discussed possible cooperation between unions from both sides of the Atlantic regarding exchange of information on media companies operating in North America and Europe. Bertelsmann, Vivendi, Cam West, Rupert Murdoch with News Corporation or Reuters were mentioned. It was agreed that e- mail exchange on three major transatlantic groups, Bertelsmann being the first, should be established. Linda Foley, USA, volunteered to pool the information. On the basis of existing information at the IFJ and EFJ on media ownership and with the help of all concerned unions, she said she could establish a database on ownership issues. An e- mail list was circulated at the meeting. At the European meeting, which followed, two major themes were discussed: gender and the issue of the right to strike. Annegret Witt- Barthel, European Coordinator of the Gender Council, informed the meeting about an e- mail network she had established and hoped that more people would get involved. Delegates exchanged experiences and legal conditions about the right to strike and invited the Labour Rights Expert Group to deal with the issue. LATIN AMERICA The chairman started the meeting reminding everyone about the future of the IFJ Latin- American group( GALFIP) and its transition into a federation. According to the agenda, the representatives need to examine the candidatures to the IFJ Executive Committee as well as the requirements for new projects and the need for new funding. Stecy Yghemonos, IFJ, said that all the unions should take initiatives to find resources on the continent itself and not always rely on the Brussels office, explaining that most international organizations and potential donors had at least one office in each Latin American country. He said the PISA project, supported by the LOTCO in Sweden, should be modified in order to be resubmitted." No project should be eternal" said the LOTCO. Gregorio Salazar, Venezuela, expressed his concern about the future of the programme, as the latter is essential for all the Latin American countries since it revives the institution of trade unions. Eduardo Marquez, Colombia, introduced the CESO- FIP initiative, a project for which the IFJ was able to find resources on the basis of his proposal, which indicates that resources are available and that all it takes to find them is proper project proposals. Stecy presented the participants with an indicative list of potential donors that can be found on the Internet. The list included Latin- American donors who are interested in human rights and to whom proposals could be sent. He described another initiative consisting in a questionnaire, prepared by the IFJ, designed to assess the profile of Latin- American trade unions, a process that could improve the fundraising process. It would create a database that would allow drafting project proposals specifically designed for each Latin American country. He said that an idea rejected by one country may be approved by another or integrated in another project. Trade unions in the region should take initiatives themselves. During the Tolerance Prize ceremony, in Cartagena, trade unions were asked to elaborate their own REPORT OF THE XXV IFJ WORLD CONGRESS proposal regarding the statutes of the future Latin American Foundation. All Latin American countries participated in the meeting, except Mexico and Honduras. The statutes should be ready for the meeting planned in Brazil, in October 2004, along with the Conference on Digital Media. It was decided that the finalisation of the statutes and other outstanding questions should be resolved within three months via the web forum already available for Latin American unions. The participants decided to prepare a letter of condolences for the more than one thousand people who lost their lives in Haiti and more than 300 who also died in the Dominican Republic due to the recent inundations. The participants discussed motions for Congress from Peru and the case of a woman Venezuelan journalist sentenced to nine months in prison for" continuous aggravated defamation". It was decided that the case should be supported by GAL- FIP and a communiqué was agreed. ASIA The meeting was chaired by Eddy Suprapto, President of Aliansi Jurnalis Indpenden from Indonesia. The meeting focused on: anti- union practices; press freedom issues; combating corruption in media; addressing gender imbalances in unions, political interference in media; and safety of journalists. The meeting focused on two areas of trade union development: strengthening the activist network of unions and strengthening the administration of unions in the region. The meeting also discussed improved ways of regional networking. Several participants spoke of the use of contracts of employment as a tool to weaken the unions. IFJ staff reminded participants that they should let the IFJ know about any attacks on labour rights so that campaigns and protests could be organised. The participants reported that there had been a lot of activity on press freedom over recent years. Many participants reported that anti- union practices and low wages impacted on press freedom. Indonesia reported on their anti- corruption campaign, Amplop. Other unions in the region reported that journalists accepting bribes is a big problem. There was a long debate on gender imbalance, especially in trade unions. Some participants posed the problem that women don't seem to want to be involved in union activities. IFJ staff reminded participants of the IFJ's two- day gender equity training module, which aims to deal with this issue. Political interference and the lack of guaranteed editorial independence in their media and government restrictions on journalists were raised as problems. A regional conference on quality journalism was requested by Mongolia. Cambodia and Indonesia spoke of cases of safety in journalism. Japan reported on their drive to raise funds for the IFJ Safety Fund through their$ 1 to the Safety Fund for a cup of coffee campaign. IFJ Staff spoke on the work of the IFJ Safety Fund. The President said all these problems could be solved by developing strong independent unions of journalists. He said that there were two parts to this: developing a core of trained journalist activists as well as improving the administration of our unions. There was a debate over increasing membership fees to have the resources to effectively tackle the challenges. Ideas for greater regional networking included, more follow- up and networking between conferences and meetings. Korea suggested that a bulletin board could be a good idea for encouraging more free flow of information between delegates. Follow up activities include a Human Rights and Safety Workshop in Nepal in 2004 and a regional Asia conference in August 2004 in Sri Lanka. WORKING PROGRAMME: DISCUSSION OF MOTIONS AND PROPOSALS The discussion covered proposals regarding changes to the Constitution and a number of proposals covering IFJ policy and the Working Programme for the coming Congress period. Three Commissions were established to consider the proposals and to prepare the debate for Congress: Finance and Constitution Commission; Resolution Commission and the Election Commission. During the discussion, no specific proposals were considered by the Elections Commission, which prepared the list of candidates for elections. An Appeals Commission was established to deal with membership issues arising from two appeals against decisions of the Executive Committee, one from Tunisia and a second from the United Kingdom. 15 16 JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE FINANCE AND CONSTITUTION COMMISSION Anita Vahlberg, Sweden, the Rapporteur for the Finance Commission, proposed on behalf of the Commission that Congress adopt the Financial Report and called on the Treasurer to make his report to Congress. Jim Boumelha, IFJ, Honorary Treasurer, moved the Report of Finances. He said that the Congress period had been a good cycle for the Federation for three reasons: • The introduction of quarterly accounts, A successful campaign to bring in contributions due from affiliates, and The maintaining of balanced budgets and financial control. He said income from projects has been less stable and general expenses have grown. That implied the need for strong fiscal control of the accounts. He said the report included all accounts from the regions except the African group. The Financial Report was adopted unanimously and the Treasurer was thanked for his work. The Commission recommended that the finance policy proposed by the Honorary Treasurer in his report should be adopted. This was agreed unanimously. MOTIONS TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION The Commission considered two proposals from member unions to amend the IFJ Constitution. The Commission recommended that the original motion tabled by the Trade Union of Croatian Journalists should Søren Wørmslev, now elected Senior Vice President, listens as Nikos Megrelis, newly elected IFJ Adviser makes a point in the session on Sports and media. be adopted with the deletion of the second and third paragraph. The first paragraph stating: " Continental and regional groups should be consulted during the preparation of training and other programs for their membership. Reasonable suggestions should be recognised and accepted in finalizing such programs, taking into account the democratic needs, tradition and social circumstances in the region". The motion as amended was agreed but would be inserted in the resolution proposed by the Executive Committee on" IFJ Project Activities 2004-2007". There were four proposals to amend the Constitution by the Deutscher Journalisten Verband. The first and second proposals were agreed( see Section III, 3d and 3m in the new Constitution). The third and forth proposal were remitted to the new Executive Committee. The Commission also recommended the adoption of the amendment to motion 9 on the IFJ Safety Fund. This was agreed. Motion 25 on the World Summit on Information Society was remitted to the Executive Committee since it had financial implications. This was agreed. RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE RESOLUTION COMMISSION ON THE WORKING PROGRAMME It was agreed with the Presidium that all urgent motions were admitted as urgent motions. The full text of all motions is attached to this report and these constitute the basis of the IFJ Working Programme for the coming period. THERESA ZARBELL REPORT OF THE XXV IF WORLD CONGRESS A full list including the agreed text of all motions dealt with, agreed or remitted at the Congress is included with this report. The motions included amendments to the Constitution from the trade union of journalists in Croatia and the Deutscher Journalisten Verband in Germany. The final Constitution as agreed and which came into effect at the conclusion of Congress is attached as part of this report. Motions dealing with the activities and policy of the IFJ were moved by proposing unions or, where they were proposals from the Executive Committee, by representatives of the outgoing Executive Committee. In all, 44 motions were considered. Among those agreed were motions outlining priorities for the new working programme and proposed actions over media concentration, media globalisation, public broadcasting, quality of journalism, editorial independence and workers' rights in the media. Specific proposals were adopted to carry out a world survey on the status and working conditions of journalists worldwide and another concerned a conference on terrorism and journalism. Strengthening relations with the journalists in the Arab world and efforts to improve the rights of journalists in regions in the course of democratic transition- such as the countries of the former Soviet Union- were also given priority. The Congress also reitereated the IFJ's commitment to trade union development worldwide and to safety work. There were also statements calling for action to reinforce and strengthen activities covering gender rights and authors' rights. One of the new issues on the IFJ agenda in the coming period will be HIV- AIDS. The Congress adopted a resolution calling for the IFJ to place itself in the centre of work being carried out by other media groups and the international trade union movement. The question of trade union rights came directly onto the Congress floor with an intervention by Tassos Anastasiadis, Greece, who told the meeting about the recent closure of his paper. He stressed that the workforce had not been informed directly by management of the closure. A petition was circulated. The Congress briefly discussed the issue, which was the subject of considerable concern to all Greek unions. The Congress agreed that full support should be given to the unions in dealing with the dispute. REPORT OF THE APPEALS COMMISSION A) ASSOCIATION OF TUNISIAN JOURNALISTS The President reported the Executive Committee had resolved to expel the Tunisian Association of Journalists ( AJT) from IFJ membership noting the persistent violations of press freedom and the rights of journalists by the Government and the failure of the AJT to properly address these issues. The Executive Committee had taken the decision to expel after having made a proper investigation of the circumstances including the response of the AJT to these matters. There had been a specific complaint regarding the presentation by the Association of a major press freedom award to Tunisian President Ben Ali whose government was responsible for many of the violations of press freedom. Following the Executive Committee decision the AJT reopened dialogue with the IFJ. The Executive Committee had agreed to place all existing information to the Appeals Committee at Congress to consider the Executive Committee decision. Alexander Baratsits, Austria, rapporteur of the Commission, said that the Commission recommended not to confirm the decision of the Executive Committee to expel the Tunisian Journalists Association from the IFJ. Instead, the Commission recommended that Congress instruct the Executive Committee to confirm the suspension and to follow- up, in a co- operative manner, the actions taken by the AJT and to decide, in due course, whether these steps warrant a lifting of the suspension of the AJT membership. Following the decision taken at the Executive Committee in Berlin in March 2004 to suspend the Tunisian Journalists Association( AJT), the Appeals Commission heard from representatives of the union. The Commission found that since the suspension the AJT had embarked on a number of changes to meet the concerns of the Executive Committee. The Commission noted the assurances of the AJT that further changes were underway and that it hoped that at the AJT's Congress in October these changes would be endorsed and would meet the concerns of the Executive Committee. Sofiene Ben Hamida, Tunisian Journalists' Association, said that the situation in Tunisia was very difficult. However, the Tunisian Association of Journalists had recently changed its statutes and had been critical of the government. He said his Association needed solidarity from the journalists' community to find the strength for 17 JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE 18 further reforms and to be able to resist the governments' increasing pressure. He thanked delegates for their solidarity. He said the Association wanted to continue to play a role in the IFJ. A debate followed regarding the consequences of expelling a member of the IFJ. Delegates insisted that a balance had to be reached between the need to respect the objectives of the IFJ Constitution, and the need to help unions in countries where complete independence from the government was difficult to achieve. Osvaldo Urriolabeitia, Argentina, spoke in support of the Executive Committee decision. Na'em Toubassi, Palestine, supported the recommendation by the Appeals Commission not to expel the Tunisian Association of Journalists. As did Sergio Ferrari, Switzerland, who said it was important to keep the THE NEW EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE RESULTS OF ELECTIONS TO IFJ EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2004-2007 President Christopher Warren, Australia* For: 204 against: 60 abstentions: 27 Senior Vice President Søren Wørmslev, Denmark* For: 267 against: 23 abstentions: 4 Vice Presidents Linda Foley, United States* Osvaldo Urriolabeitia, Argentina* 224 250 Honorary Treasurer Jim Boumelha, GB and Ireland* For: 257 against: 6 abstentions: 2 ADVISERS RESERVE ADVISERS ACCORDING TO REGION Elisabeth Costa, Brazil* 227 Africa Mario Guastoni, France* 194 Tuwani Gumani, South Africa* M'jahed Younouss, Morocco* 192 Joa Carlos Van- dunem, Angola* 148 146 Khady Cisse, Senegal* 190 Sabina Inderjit, India* 185 Asia Paolo Serventi Longhi, Italy 177 Nikos Megrelis, Greece 174 Rosanne Koelmeyer Anderson, Sri Lanka* Michael Chia- Chang Yu, India* 124 88 289 Eva Stabell, Norway* 174 Mituru Osamura, Japan 165 Latin America Jasmina Popovic, Croatia* 165 Roberto Mejia Alarcon, Peru* 152 Uli Remmel, Germany 165 Manuel Mendez, Uruguay* 146 Arnold Amber, Canada* 142 Olivo de Leon, Dom.Rep* 142 North America Na'em Toubassi, Palestine* 139 Rogaciano Mendez, Mexico* 138 Hashhuu Naranjargal, Mongolia* 123 Gerald Colby, United States* 83 Herbert Lumansi, Uganda* 119 Norila Mohd Daud, Malaysia 106 Oceania Kang Seok- jae, Korea 106 Ruth Pollard, Australia* 136 Vsevolod Bogdanov, Russia 98 Alan Kennedy, Australia* 116 Yaron Enosh, Israel 97 Gerard Colby, United States 72 Europe Rabah Abdellah, Algeria 70 Andreas Kannaouros, Cyprus* Rosanne K. Anderson, Sri Lanka 67 ( automatically elected) Chaudhry Ullah Shamsi, Pakistan 64 Carmen Rivas Avilas, Spain* 102 Ali Mazrouei, 49 Shyam Khosla, India 47 General Reserves Madan Lal Talwar, India 43 Faranak Atif, Iran, Yaron Enosh, Israel First General Reserve Adviser Second General Reserve Candidates marked with* have been duly elected. Adviser REPORT OF THE XXV IF WORLD CONGRESS Tunisian Association within the IFJ on the basis that they were adjusting to the principles of the IFJ. This was important also in view of the upcoming WSIS in Tunisia 2005. Linda Foley, United States, who spoke in favour of the Executive Committee also said that the renewed communication with the IFJ and the information given by the colleagues from Tunisia was very important. She now supported the recommendation by the Appeals Commission. The recommendation by the Appeals Commission was agreed. B) CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF JOURNALISTS( TU) UNITED KINGDOM( CIO)) Rapporteur Alexander Baratsits said that the Commission recommendation to Congress was to reject the appeal of the CIOJ and to confirm the decision of the EC to reject the application for membership on the grounds that the application is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the IFJ. The Commission had made its decision on the basis of Section IV of the IFJ Constitution, with respect to sections II and III. Mary Tomlinson, CIOJ, United Kingdom, addressed the Congress. She thanked all delegates for considering the appeal. She said the CIOJ had been applying for IFJ membership for 30 years. The details of the appeal had been circulated and she regarded it as an insult that the IFJ continued to refuse the CIOJ membership. She insisted that the CIOJ did not represent employers, but worked hard in support of journalists and their interests. She pointed out that the CIOJ was a founding member of the INSI. She said that there had been a long process of exchanging information and she believed that all unions should understand the true position of the CIOJ. It was just not acceptable that the organisation could be refused. There had been no clear arguments put about why it was not appropriate for the CIOJ to be members of the IFJ. This was an organisation that defended journalists' rights, supported press freedom and took very seriously the responsibility and obligations of international work. She hoped that the Congress would set aside the decision of the Executive Committee and allow the CIOJ into membership. Jeremy Dear, United Kingdom and Ireland, opposed the CIOJ position. He said the CIOJ was not committed to trade unionism or collective agreements. They did not support the NUJ's work on social standards and were guilty of strike breaking when the NUJ took industrial action. The decision of the Executive Committee should be upheld. Agnieszka Romaszewska- Guzy, Poland, said that the IFJ should not have double standards. She referred to the example of the Association of Journalists of the Republic of Poland and the Polish Association of Journalists, neither of which were trade unions. Mary Tomlinson replied briefly to the statements by Jeremy Dear taking issue with his views about the role of the CIOJ. This was just not justified and was incorrect, she said. The recommendation by the Appeals Commission was agreed. ELECTIONS TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE The candidates for the President, the Senior Vice President, the Vice Presidents and the Honorary Treasurer presented themselves. The voting cards were handed out by roll call and the elections took place in secret ballot. Following this procedure, the candidates to the new IFJ Executive Committee presented themselves. Following the elections, the tellers reported the results as on page 18. Other points: Margot Dudkevich, Israel, hoped that the opening of dialogue initiated by the delegation of the National Federation of Israel Journalists would be reciprocal. The General Secretary said that he welcomed the opening of dialogue very much and he assured the Israeli delegation that the IFJ would continue this dialogue. CLOSING CEREMONY The re- elected President took the chair and congratulated the new Executive Committee members on their election. He thanked the outgoing EC members Gustl Glattfelder, Yoshi Okuda and Juan Antonio Prieto for their great work and presentations were made to them. The President thanked warmly the Congress organisers from Greece for the excellent work and their great hospitality. He thanked the IFJ secretariat, the interpreters and the delegates, all of whom had contributed to a memorable and historic meeting. The Congress was formally closed. 19 20 JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE REPORT OF THE XXV IF WORLD CONGRESS 21 IFJ CONGRESS 2004 ANNEX ATHENS• MAY 25- 30 CONSTITUTION PAGE 22 RESOLUTIONS PAGE 27 MOTIONS REMITTED PAGE 39 The congress comes to an end 22 IFJ CONSTITUTION 23 RI AS AGREED BY THE 25TH IFJ CONGRESS, ATHENS, 25-30 MAY 2004 JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE SECTION I: TITLE AND HEADQUARTERS 1. The name of the organisation is the International Federation of Journalists. Its headquarters is based in Residence Palace, International Press Center, Block C, Rue de la Loi 155, 1040 Brussels( Belgium). SECTION II: CHARACTER 2 a) The International Federation of Journalists is confederation of journalists' trade unions. It has been created to deal with matters related to trade unionism and the practice of the profession of journalism. It is established in the context of support for pluralist democracy and fundamental human rights. It is independent of all ideological, political, governmental and religious bodies. It represents and assists its member organisations in education and research and all professional matters and has and promotes continental and regional groups made up of those member organisations. The International Federation of Journalists is an Association Internationale Sans But Lucratif as defined under Belgian law. The Administrative Committee is responsible for meeting the Federation's obligations as an AISBL. b) SECTION III: OBJECTS 3. The aims and objectives of the Federation are: ( a) To protect and strengthen the rights and freedoms of journalists; ( b) To respect and defend freedom of information, media freedom and the independence of journalism particularly through research and monitoring of violations and taking action to defend journalists and their work; ( c) To uphold and improve professionalism and to promote high standards of journalistic education; ( d) To improve and defend the social and working conditions of all journalists, and to encourage and support member unions in collective bargaining; ( e) To promote co- operation between member unions, and to support trade union development, by means of the organisation of continental and regional groups; ( f) ( g) To promote and maintain editorial democracy; To promote the social role of journalists and the profession of journalism, particularly its contribution to democracy and freedom; ( h) To encourage the provision of professional and trade union education and training for journalists; ( i) To co- ordinate action to ensure the safety of journalists; ( j) To encourage member unions to provide goodwill and assistance for members of other member unions who may be working in their territories; ( k) To establish and maintain close relations with relevant international, government and non- government organisations in pursuit of these objects; ( 1) To fight for authors' rights and international reimbursement systems; ( m) To promote mainstreaming equality in journalism and to encourage member unions to pursue this objective. SECTION IV: MEMBERSHIP 4. The Federation may admit to full membership national trade unions whose constitutions and activities are consistent with the character and objects of the Federation and which conform to the following definitions: ( a) It is a journalists' trade union, that is, a democratic organisation whose primary functions are to defend, maintain and advance( particularly by collective bargaining) the professional, ethical, moral and material rights of journalists. For the purposes of this definition, a journalist is one who devotes the greater part of his/ her working time to the profession of journalism and who derives from it most of his/ her income being employed or working as a freelance; ( b) It is devoted to media freedom, that is, in accordance with the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, freedom in the collection and dissemination of information by all forms of media, and freedom to express opinion and comment, including the freedom to criticise and oppose governments, political and economic bodies whether public or private. 5. Membership of the Federation is not open to journalists' unions which include employers in their regular REPORT OF THE XXV IFJ WORLD CONGRESS membership, nor to non- union organisations which operate in specific sectors of the profession. 6. When a union admitted to the Federation is organised on an industrial basis its membership shall be recognised only in relation to the number of its members who are journalists. 7. National organisations of journalists which are not journalists' trade unions as defined in paragraph 4( a), but which are devoted to media freedom as defined in paragraph 4( b), may be admitted as associate members. 8. Except as specified by this Constitution, associate members may participate in all Federation activities. They may be represented at Congress by one delegate but shall not have the right to vote, to nominate or to be nominated for office. With the assistance of the Federation, associate members shall do all in their power to attain and conform with the conditions of full membership and shall, when appropriate, seek full membership. SECTION V: APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP 9. An application for membership of the Federation shall be made to the General Secretary in the prescribed form and shall be accompanied by the Constitution of the applicant organisation. The General Secretary shall advise all member unions of each membership application. 10. The Executive Committee shall consider each application. It may, provided two- thirds of Executive Committee members present vote in favour, admit an applicant to full membership or associate membership. It may reject an application or defer an application for further consideration at its next meeting. 11. An applicant whose application is rejected by the Executive Committee may appeal against that decision to the next Congress. Any three member unions who disagree with an Executive Committee decision to admit an applicant to membership may appeal against that decision to the next Congress. In either case the appeal must be lodged in writing with the General Secretary within three months of the decision being notified. 12. The procedure for changing the status of an associate member to full membership shall be the same as that prescribed in the preceding articles. SECTION VI: EXPULSION AND RESIGNATION 13. A member union may be expelled from membership by decision of Congress if: ( a) It no longer meets the conditions of membership as set out in Article 4 of this Constitution; or ( b) It acts in a manner contrary to the principles or objects or in a manner likely to damage the interests of the Federation; or ( c) It is more than 12 months late in paying its membership fees. 14. A provisional decision to expel a member may be made by the Executive Committee after a proper investigation of the circumstances and provided two- thirds of committee members present vote to do so. Any such decision shall be notified immediately to the member in question. The member may appeal against the decision to the next Congress, which shall confirm or reverse the decision, but in the meantime the member shall be suspended from membership. 15. Any member may resign from the federation by giving six months' notice in writing to the General Secretary. SECTION VII: CONGRESS 16. Congress shall be the supreme governing body of the Federation. 17. Congress shall be composed of delegates from the full member unions and the associate members. Full members shall be entitled to appoint delegates on a national basis, and shall have votes at Congress, according to the following scale: Up to 600 members 2 delegates/ votes Up to 1,200 members 3 delegates/ votes Up to 2,400 members 4 delegates/ votes Up to 4,800 members 5 delegates/ votes Up to 8,000 members 6 delegates/ votes Up to 12,000 members Over 12,000 members 7 delegates/ votes 8 delegates/ votes 18. Where there is more than one full member union from the same nation, the total number of delegates/ votes to which they are entitled shall be based on their total membership numbers. In such cases the unions will decide among themselves how to apportion the votes and, no later than two weeks before Congress begins, shall inform the General Secretary of their decision. If the unions cannot agree, the Congress Presidium shall apportion the votes according to the number of members of each union. The Presidium's decision may not be altered during Congress. A quorum shall be 123 24 JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE established for the work of Congress and shall be defined in the Working Rules for Congress activity. 19. Congress shall normally meet every third year. The Executive Committee may convene an extraordinary Congress at any time if two- thirds of its members vote in favour. The Executive Committee shall convene an extraordinary Congress if half of the Federation's full members make such a demand in writing. 20. Member unions shall be advised of the place and dates of the normal Congress meeting not less than 12 months in advance of the start of the meeting. Invitations and a provisional agenda shall be sent to members not less than eight months in advance, and working documents not less than two months in advance, of the start of the Congress. 21. Proposals from member unions, the Executive Committee and regional organisations of the IFJ, must be submitted to the General Secretary not less than five months before the start of Congress, except where this Constitution specifically provides otherwise. Proposals to amend this Constitution or to dissolve the Federation may be submitted only in accordance with the procedure set out in Section XI. Proposals submitted out of time may be considered by Congress only if a majority of voting delegates agree. 22. Notice of an extraordinary Congress shall be sent to member unions not less than six weeks before the opening of such Congress. 23. The Congress at its normal meetings shall: ( a) Elect a Congress Presidium; ( b) Adopt the Working Rules for Congress including the allocation of proxy votes, upon the recommendation of the Executive Committee, and establish a quorum; ( c) Establish such Congress Commissions, working groups and/ or procedures as are necessary for the efficient conduct of Congress and to assist the participation of delegates; ( d) Receive, discuss and vote on a report from the General Secretary on behalf of the Executive Committee, and a report from the Honorary Treasurer in the finances of the Federation; ( e) Decide on appeals on matters of membership; ( f) Decide on proposals to amend the Constitution; ( g) Determine financial strategy for the next threeyear Congress period; ( h) Decide on full membership and associate membership fees for the next three- year Congress period; ( i) Determine policies and the working programme for the following three- year period; ( j) Decide on proposals submitted for the agenda by member unions; ( k) Elect the Officers of the Federation and the other members of the Executive Committee as provided in Section VIII. 24. Decisions of the Congress shall be made by a simple majority of votes cast, except that a two- thirds majority of votes cast shall be required ( a) To adopt a proposal to amend this Constitution; ( b) To determine the financial strategy; ( c) To decide membership fees. A two- thirds majority of all votes represented at Congress shall be required to adopt a proposal to dissolve the Federation. 25. All elections at Congress shall be by secret ballot and shall be conducted by the Congress Presidium in accordance with the Working Rules. SECTION VIII: EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, OFFICERS AND ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE 26. Between Congresses the Executive Committee shall be the governing body of the Federation. It shall consist of the Officers and 16 other members and shall be elected by Congress. It shall meet at least twice a year. A quorum of 11 voting members shall be required for decisions to be valid. The Committee shall establish its own working rules and procedures within the framework of the Constitution. The Executive Committee shall ensure that at the headquarters of the Federation there is a register of all decisions of the Executive Committee and all decisions of the Congress. 27. The Executive Committee is responsible for ensuring that the policies and the working programme of the Federation are carried out in line with Congress decisions, and shall report on its work to Congress. The Executive Committee shall agree Working Rules for its meetings and shall define establish a quorum and, where appropriate, procedures for allocation of proxy votes for absent members. 28. The Officers of the Federation shall be the President, the Senior Vice- President, two Vice- Presidents and the Honorary Treasurer. They shall be elected by Congress from nominations made by full member unions. Candidates must be part of their union's delegation. No more than one Officer may be elected from any member union or nation. 29. In addition to the Officers, the Congress shall elect 16 members of the Executive Committee in accordance with the following provisions: REPORT OF THE XXV IFJ WORLD CONGRESS ( a) Nominations may be made by full member unions, and candidates must be part of their union's delegation; ( b) No fewer than two members shall be elected from each of the Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America regions; and no fewer than one member from each of the North America and Oceania regions; ( c) No more than one member may be elected from any member union or nation. 30. Congress shall also elect two reserve committee members from each region and two further reserves not bound by any geographical criteria. The reserve receiving the greater number of votes in each case shall be considered the first reserve. If a member is unable to participate in a meeting of the Executive Committee he/ she must inform the General Secretary at least four weeks before the meeting. The General Secretary shall then call the appropriate reserve to participate in the meeting. In such circumstances the reserve shall have all the rights, duties and powers of a member of the Executive Committee. 31. If, following their election, any Officer or member of the Executive Committee: ( a) dies; or ( b) resigns from the Executive Committee; or ( c) in the opinion of four- fifths of the Executive Committee has become ineligible to hold office in terms of this Constitution, he/ she shall be succeeded by the appropriate first reserve( the second reserve thereby becoming the first reserve). If there is no appropriate reserve a replacement shall be elected by a postal/ facsimile ballot in a manner determined by the Executive Committee; provided that the Executive Committee may decide not to fill a vacancy if it occurs within a year of the next Congress. 32. The General Secretary shall be a non- voting member of the Executive Committee. 33. The Executive Committee shall appoint members of working parties established by Congress to further the activities of the Federation. At least one Executive Committee member shall serve on each working party, and shall be responsible or effective liaison between the working party and the Executive Committee. 34. The President, the Senior Vice- President, the Vice- Presidents and the Honorary Treasurer shall together with the General Secretary constitute the Administrative Committee. The Administrative Committee shall a) supervise the Federation activities of the General Secretary and deal with financial matters, membership questions, matters of concern and prepare wider policy issues for discussion by the Executive Committee; and b) otherwise act for the Federation between meetings of the Executive Committee within the policies established by the Congress and the Executive Committee. Actions of the Administrative Committee shall be confirmed at the following Executive Committee meeting. 35. The President shall be the leading representative of the Federation. He/ she shall convene and chair meetings of the Executive Committee and the Administrative Committee. 36. The Senior Vice- President and the Vice- Presidents shall assist the President in carrying out his/ her duties and shall, in order, replace the President if he/ she is prevented from carrying out those duties. 37. The Honorary Treasurer shall supervise the financial policies and performance of the Federation and shall report to the Executive Committee and Congress on those matters. 38. The General Secretary shall be the Chief Executive officer of the Federation. He/ she shall be appointed by the Executive Committee and be responsible to that committee. The competent persons to act in legal matters on behalf of the Federation are the President, the Honorary Treasurer and the General Secretary. SECTION IX: CONTINENTAL AND REGIONAL GROUPS 39. Continental and regional groups may be set up by affiliate and associate members of the Federation. Such groups may regulate their own activities provided they are in accordance with this Constitution and are consistent with policies established by Congress. SECTION X: FINANCE 40. Congress shall determine the basis for the calculation of membership fees and shall decide the membership fees payable by full members and by associate members of the Federation. Membership fees shall be paid in the currency of the nation in which the headquarters of the Federation is situated. 41. The financial year of the Federation shall be from January 1 to December 31. The Executive Committee shall adopt and approve the accounts and budget of the Federation annually. 25 JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE 26 42. Membership fees for a financial year are due and payable by April 30 of that year unless the Executive Committee decides otherwise. Members admitted to the Federation during a year shall pay membership fees for that year on a pro rata calculation for the unexpired period of the year. 43. Membership fees shall be paid according to the number of regular members declared by unions up to a maximum figure, which shall be determined by Congress. 44. Any member union which is more than six months in arrears with the payment of its membership fees shall be reported to the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee may direct that the services of the Federation be withdrawn from any such member union. 45. Any member union, which is more than 12 months in arrears with the payment of its membership fees, or with money due for the supply of International Press Cards, shall have no voting rights at Congress. Any such member union may also be expelled from the Federation by Congress or by the Executive Committee. 46. The expenses of delegates to Congress and of members of the Executive Committee and working parties shall be paid by their member unions unless otherwise decided by the Executive Committee. 50. In the event that Congress decides to dissolve the Federation, all liabilities of the Federation shall be discharged. Any remaining assets shall then be divided among the unions which are members at the time equivalent to the proportion of their contributions to the Federation during the current year. If there are insufficient assets to meet the Federation's liabilities, the outstanding liabilities shall be met by the member unions in similar proportion. SECTION XII: MISCELLANEOUS 51. Matters not provided for in this Constitution shall be decided by Congress or, if they arise between Congress meetings, by the Executive Committee. 52. This Constitution, which is framed and interpreted according to the conditions and circumstances set out in the Belgian law of October 25th 1919, shall at all times be interpreted and applied in a manner which avoids undue technicality and which best maintains and promotes the character and objects of the Federation. 53. Modifications to the Constitution shall be submitted for Royal Assent and published in annexes to the Moniteur Belge in accordance with Belgian law. SECTION XI: AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION AND DISSOLUTION 47. Proposals to amend this Constitution must be submitted in writing to the General Secretary no later than six months before the opening day of Congress. Every such proposal must specify precisely the amendment sought, and must be accompanied by a brief explanation of the reason for the amendment. The General Secretary shall immediately forward copies of the proposal and explanatory material to all member unions. 48. A proposal to amend the Constitution shall be carried only if it is supported by two- thirds of the votes cast at Congress. The quorum required for voting on a constitutional amendment shall be the same as that for other Congress business. 49. A proposal to dissolve the Federation must be submitted and dealt with in the same manner as a proposal to amend the Constitution. However, such a proposal shall be carried only if it is supported by twothirds of all the votes represented at Congress. REPORT OF THE XXV IFI WORLD CONGRESS RESOLUTIONS ( IFJ WORKING PROGRAMME) 1. IFJ WORKING PROGRAMME Proposer: Deutscher Journalisten Verband, Deutsche Journalisten Union in ver.di The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, CALLS upon the Executive Committee of the IFJ to develop a working programme with the following objectives: To strengthen trade unions of journalists worldwide in their efforts to safeguard independent professional journalism with highest ethical and professional standards and sustainable social security and working conditions both for staff and freelance journalists; To continue the programme set up by the IFJ Congress 2001 in Seoul to mainstream gender equality in journalism; To include professional training to the core activities to defend and improve quality in journalism; To continue the author's rights campaign to develop, establish, support and defend the intellectual property rights of journalist; To strengthen the trade union rights of journalists and their professional or trade union organisations and the freedom to join such organisations; To further bilateral cooperation of IFJ member organisations; To build international works councils in multinational media companies; To develop out of existing material a databank for the IFJ member unions with all relevant collective agreements in the media sector; To investigate the financing of the establishment of a legal protection programme; To further the aims and objectives of the IFJ as they are fixed in the IFJ Constitution. The working programme shall explicitly address the needs of the IFJ member unions. Therefore, the Executive Committee shall invite and encourage the member unions to express their needs and wishes for action in the first six months after the Congress. The Executive Committee shall take into consideration also wishes for regional cooperation and support by IFJ member unions. 2. MEDIA, GLOBALISATION AND DEMOCRATIC LIBERTIES Proposer: Italian National Press Federation The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, noting the degenerative effect of media globalisation and a communication market where the northern part of the world has not only economic, but also political and cultural control, rejecting the growth of monopolies in TV, radio, newspapers and information sources, stressing the danger of power concentrated in the hands of a few powerful international and national media groups, STRONGLY AFFIRMS the need to defend pluralism of information, freedom of information and opinion across the globe, which represent the fundamental aspects of every true democracy. In Europe, attempts to eliminate antitrust rules, by means of new national laws and regulations, as has happened in Italy, threaten to reduce the citizens' right to know and endanger the survival of independent media. International organisations through the United Nations should respect the principle of freedom of information and apply rigorous anti- trust policies to regulate the world media market, to limit media concentration and to prevent the growth of ubiquitous monopolies. In order to ensure real conditions of pluralism in the various national, regional and linguistic sectors, there should be international rules governing media cross ownership and respect for national agreements and 27 28 JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE charters of social, cultural and professional rights of employees. CALLS on all journalists' unions and media workers to strongly oppose attacks by governments and private entrepreneurs against public service radio and television. The defence of public radio and TV is directly connected to the democratic, social and cultural requirements of every society, as well as the need to preserve pluralism of the media. CALLS on the IFJ and its regional bodies to fight against laws or regulations that strengthen media concentration, or weaken existing antitrust rules, or damage public broadcasting, or subordinate information to commercial and advertising interests. ENDORSES the report of the IFJ Mission to Italy in January 2004, which examined threats to pluralism in a country governed by Silvio Berlusconi( a major media owner and Prime Minister) and urges similar missions in other countries in liaison with national unions. AFFIRMS that media independence and pluralism must be guaranteed by strict regulations defending press freedom by preventing individuals standing for election to political office, where they own significant shares of the information system. Conflict between political interests and ownership of the media and communications system inevitably prevent a balanced development of democratic liberties. 3. MEDIA AND GLOBALISATION Proposer: National Union of Journalists, Great Britain and Ireland The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, welcoming the continual development and increased popularity of the anti- globalisation movement and the role played by trade unions in its organisation and structure; noting that the alternative World Social Forum initiated in Porte Alegre has now developed into regional forums such as the one in Mumbai and the European Social forum; further welcoming that the theme of media including media concentration, the defence of public service broadcasting, the protection of social and cultural values have now become mainstream issues discussed in these forums, INSTRUCTS the Executive Committee to: ( i) Strengthen the role of the Secretariat in co- ordinating the IFJ's work on globalisation; ( ii) Ensure that policies and strategies of the IFJ are presented and fought for to be adopted by these meetings; ( iii) Organise the interventions by affiliates who are attending these forums. 4. EMPLOYMENT POLICIES IN GREEK PUBLIC BROADCASTER ERT Proposer: Union of Macedonia and Thrace Daily Newspapers( ESIEMTH) The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, noting that the majority of journalists employed by Greece's public service broadcaster Hellenic RadioTelevision S.A.( ERT) and its regional station in Thessaloniki( ERT- 3) are falsely identified as self- employed " independent contractors", who work under continuous and renewable agreements of a maximum pf four- month duration; convinced that these journalists are in reality economically dependent worker who do fulfill continuous and permanent needs of their employer, by providing daily news coverage, abiding by a defined work schedule, covering specifically- assigned beats; noting that these journalists may be fired without prior notice, without compensation, unemployment benefits, paid holidays or vacation time, and that they are paid at rates far below the scale governed by collective agreements; believing that national legislation should adhere to European Community directives concerning matters of economically dependent work and that Laws and regulations governing the national and international labor sector should be enforced in order to safeguard the rights of those employed by public broadcasting stations, given that these state enterprises are being funded by public taxes; CALLS on the IFJ to give its full support to ESIEMTH, the labor and trade union authorized to represent these journalists, and instructs the IFJ to undertake every possible action and exhaust all venues in order to counter this flagrant violation of national and international labor laws. REPORT OF THE XXV IF WORLD CONGRESS 5. ATTACKS ON CIVIL LIBERTIES Proposer: National Union of Journalists, Great Britain and Ireland The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, concerned at the increasing impact of the so- called ' war on terror' legislation on journalism. Over the past year civil liberties have steadily been trimmed following the introduction of anti- terror legislation following September 11th, WELCOMES the report" Journalism, civil liberties and the war on terrorism", published in October 2001 by the IFJ, detailing the promulgation of anti- terror legislation on many countries and its effect on journalism worldwide; NOTES with alarm that in almost every country on all continents, governments and politicians have been developing anti- terrorist strategies, which include the possibility of damaging new laws that may threaten existing standards of personal freedom and press freedom; The evidence of this report alone shows that, among others, in Canada, the United States, Great Britain, Australia, France, Russia and within the European Union, there is a worrying rush to legislate on phone- tapping, police surveillance, encryption technology, detention of migrants, control of the Internet and freedom of movement -- opening the door to a snooping society in which people's private communications are subject to official monitoring under the pretext of fighting terrorism governments of some African countries including South Africa, Morocco, Uganda and Tanzania, are introducing powers to curtail press freedom, freedom of expression, civil and political rights; BELIEVES that these new laws are being drafted and processed too quickly for effective scrutiny by the public at large or by legislators and they are having a huge impact on journalists and their work-- undermining the capacity of journalists to monitor the apparatus of state and to store information. Consequently Congress; REAFFIRMS its commitment to campaign against secrecy and for journalists' right to investigate and scrutinise the authorities without intimidation and INSTRUCTS the Executive Committee to continue to publicise useful material and guidelines for journalists and media covering the current crisis in order to promote better understanding of the issues involved and the need for professionalism give maximum support to and encourage its affiliates to join and build campaigns in opposition to these sweeping legislations strengthen efforts to promote quality in journalism to counter prejudice and cultural misunderstanding through regional prizes for tolerance in journalism and by reinvigorating the International Media Working Group Against Racism and Xenophobia. campaign against so called anti terror legislation which directly targets press freedom, freedom of expression, civil and political rights. promote international solidarity between journalists from all cultures and traditions With this in mind, the IFJ should continue to sponsor whenever possible international and regional seminars and conferences on war, terrorism and the role of media with the support of appropriate civil liberties and press freedom agencies. 6. IFJ/ FEDERATION OF ARAB JOURNALISTS CO- OPERATION Proposer: National Union of Journalists, Great Britain and Ireland The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, welcoming the initiative by the Executive Committee to develop a more formal relationship with the Federation of Arab Journalists set out in the Arab Declaration of 12th April 2003, noting the joint Plan of Action subsequently agreed by the IFJ- FAJ Joint Commission meeting in Brussels on 23rd October which includes: ( i) A mission to Iraq with the objective to seek to organise a unified trade union structure dedicated to the defense of social and professional rights of Iraqi journalists; ( ii) The organisation of a joint workshop in Cairo on press freedom in the Arab World; ( iii) The establishment of a safety centre in Palestine; and ( iv) Cooperation on the Natali Prize, believing that this process will be crucial in strengthening solidarity in the region and will give a boost to the fight for press freedom in the Arab World- - having already resulted in three more Arab journalists' unions affiliating to the IFJ, 29 30 JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE INSTRUCTS the Executive Committee to: ( i) continue developing joint work with the Federation of Arab Journalists; ( ii) encourage the formation of an appropriate regional group within the structures of the IFJ. 7. IFJ SAFETY FUND Proposer: National Union of Journalists, Great Britain and Ireland The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, WELCOMES the relaunch of the IFJ's Safety Fund. BELIEVES that, since its launch in January 1992, the Fund has played a vital role in support of journalists under threat. Congress further believes that in order to be able to meet the requests for assistance that continue to come in, it is necessary to consider new ways in which the Fund can progress to its target of$ 1 million set in 1990. THANKS the handful of affiliates that have been almost sole regular contributors to the Fund. Believing that contributions- no matter their size- from a much broader group of affiliates would strengthen the role of the Safety Fund, INSTRUCTS the EC to follow up on the survey on ways to collect funding and to encourage all affiliates to support the fund. 8. EMPLOYMENT CRISIS Proposer: Asociación Nacional de Periodistas del Perú The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, - Considering that: recent statistics given by international organisations show that a third of the world's active population of around 3,000 million is condemned to unemployment or under- employment; more than 160 million people don't have any opportunity to find a job- 20 million more than in 1997, at the time of the financial crisis in Asia, and despite signs of economic recovery in that region; unemployment rises as the value of work is diminished because global financial powers consider it as simple merchandise, causing a human catastrophe in the beginning of the 21st century, the IFJ sees employment is vital for a person to live with dignity and provide for basic needs, AGREES: a) to express strongly and publicly the IFJ view that it is urgently necessary to create at least 500 millions jobs around the world to provide employment for human development; b) to promote among the professional workers, technicians, freelance and independent workers, the legitimacy of trade- unionism as a free and democratic tool of representation of the working class in order to defend the human right to work and to promote a world of peace guaranteeing a social justice. 9. EXTERNAL DEBT AND SOCIAL PEACE Proposer: Asociación Nacional de Periodistas del Perú The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, Considering that: in less- developed countries the burden of external debt has reached unprecedented levels( more than 2 billon dollars) forcing countries to sell valuable raw materials to meet financial system rules, the current problem of debt results from the accumulation of debt and the investment strategies of capitalist investors, made worse for many lessdeveloped countries as more payment mean more debt. For many countries in Latin America external debt between the years 1980 to 2002 has increased from 100% to 278%, endangering national economies, causing dependence and mortgaging for life the potential of natural resources, the absence of a solution to the debt crisis by the international financial organisations and the governments of highly- developed countries has created growing resentment and despair in the poorest populations feeding corruption, criminality, ill- governance, terrorism and social violence, AGREES: a) to raise with industrial organisations, professional associations and media unions the need to influence international opinion in order to force international organisations and developed countries to reorganise and resolve the payment of the external debt, including the suppression of interest payments to allow a better use of money in the fight against unemployment and poverty. REPORT OF THE XXV IFJ WORLD CONGRESS b) to instruct the IFJ Executive Committee to follow this issue and to campaign with member unions for the promotion of solidarity days, on national and regional level, to discuss the debt crisis and its impact on less developed countries. 10. INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM OF SOCIAL SECURITY FOR JOURNALISTS Proposer: Asociación Nacional de Periodistas del Perú The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, Considering that: national social security system are in profound crisis, particularly in countries with dependent economies, putting in danger the provision of financial resources required for the elderly, the disabled and the unemployed; workers, in the face of globalisation and poverty, and inspired by principles of solidarity and mutual help, need to create an international trade union response to this crisis, CALLS on the IFI Executive Committee 1. To search for funding for an international study on best practice in social security systems and to disseminate information to national unions; 2. After the completion of such a study: to review the question of an international trade union social security system in a spirit of solidarity. witnessing at the same time, and in France particularly, that government policies are increasingly designed to transform the social relationship between journalists and the publications for which they work into a purely commercial relationship; believing that whereby journalists become simply content providers for unknown users and are no longer regarded as creators with rights and duties towards citizens, the insidious result is to accelerate the transformation of information into a commercial commodity; and reaffirming that attacks on author's rights: amount to a denial of fundamental moral and economic rights, lead to increasing poverty and uniformity of information, and to the treatment of information as a commodity to be manipulated for commercial ends, tend to undermine and damage the democratic process, threaten the livelihood and employment of journalists, and deny them the right to benefit from the full continuing value of their work, CONGRATULATES the Authors' Rights Experts Group for its excellent work and insists that the authors' rights remains a priority for the IFJ and that a new world campaign should be launched on this issue, including: ( i) information and education for all journalists, staff and freelance on the importance of this issue for the future of high quality, independent media; ( ii) pressure for agreements with publishing and broadcasting companies which rule out the notorious" All- rights contracts"; ( iii) to campaign for full authors' rights for all journalists, including those employed as staff, who are currently denied all authors' rights in some jurisdictions. 31 11. AUTHORS' RIGHTS Proposer: Syndicat national des journalistes, France The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, noting that journalists, both of the written press and broadcasting, photographers and designers are the victims in Europe and around the world of persistent attacks on the part of employers seeking to appropriate their authors' rights; believing that in an age of media concentration, this attack on authors' rights tends to contribute to the destruction of pluralism and the impoverishment of democratic debate, to the detriment of readers and journalists; 12. PUBLIC SERVICE RADIO AND TELEVISION Proposer: Syndicat national des journalistes, France The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, noting the intensification of the global campaign to diminish or extinguish public broadcasting where it exists; such attacks have now extended to one of the world's leading public service broadcaster, the BBC, in the light of the Hutton report resulting in increasing threats of political and corporate interference; JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE 32 believing that this brutal campaign demands purely and simply the end of public service in the name of diminishing state interests and assisting tax- payers or, by more subtly, by asking public broadcasters to concentrate on" public service mission," in opposition to private broadcasters, but with no guarantee of resources to finance this mission, thus opening the door to private operators; witnessing that countries in Central and Eastern Europe, for historical reasons, are often sensitive to the arguments in favour of a fully private broadcasting system, freed from any state control over transnational groups seeing that behind the campaign followed by governments and parliaments, we often find national private interests( such as Berlusconi in Italy) or transnational interests( such as Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation in Britain, in continental Europe, the United States, Australia and South- East Asia). Following an agenda that is both commercial and political, these interests provide support to political groups in exchange for promises to reduce the competitive impact of public broadcasting; witnessing that, although new technologies have brought in a new dimension, digitalisation is changing the way media professionals work, and that, broadcasting journalists find their jobs are less secure and their intellectual property rights undermined as media plunder their work for reuse and redistribution in new electronic information systems; aware that in the 1980s" deregulation" developed following the argument that opening to the private sector is a sign of competition and pluralism to avoid monopolies but that the current situation is now that in many countries only public broadcasting preserves pluralism and diversity and guarantees democracy in the face of transnational media conglomerates; INSTRUCTS the IFJ Executive Committee to deepen and enlarge the Campaign for the public broadcasting and applauds the work carried out in organising and participating in seminars, debates and regional campaigns worldwide, the most recent being the campaign to defend the BBC which this Congress fully supports and endorses; CALLS on IFJ affiliates to work with civil society, political forces and other interested groups to promote public support for the structures and values of PSB. 13. DEMOCRATIC TRANSFORMATION OF MEDIA Proposer: National Union of Journalists of the Ukraine The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, recognising that the creation of stable, democratic and viable media organisations, which are not subject to undue influence by the political establishment, government or private business interests is essential to Press freedom and to independent journalism noting that in most countries emerging from the former Soviet Union journalists are still unable to exercise their profession in a climate of independence because of the failure to make a satisfactory transition to a mixed media economy where there is a balance of private and public activity concerned that direct and indirect political influence remains strong over media in these countries CALLS on the IFJ a) to prepare a report on the steps necessary to create an independent media landscape in this region, including legal measures and covering the role of public service media b) to devise training materials for unions to help educate their members on the role they can play in promoting democratic transition c) to assist unions in devising strategies for change at a national level in line within the need to ensure respect for international social and professional standards in all areas of journalism. 14. IFJ PROJECT ACTIVITIES 2004-2007 Proposer: Executive Committee The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, considering that the strength of the IFJ lies in its development of regional capacity and networks of journalists' unions believing that it is essential to widen and deepen the scope and effectiveness of IFJ project activities in order to strengthen regional networks, REPORT OF THE XXV IFJ WORLD CONGRESS resources and work under intolerable social and political conditions, WELCOMES decisions by the Executive Committee to provide additional funding from the IFJ budget for regional work and, further, INSTRUCTS the Executive Committee in the coming period to ensure that projects and regional activities are developed according to the following priorities: a) That project programmes and IFJ activities continue to be developed according to IFJ general objectives, but with priority for actions covering globalisation, unionbuilding, safety, gender rights and media regulation; b) That systematic management of project information and review of needs are conducted to ensure tailored programmes and a sound evaluation of work done; c) That project programmes are designed in a dialogue with relevant IFJ affiliates and regional groups and with the aim to strengthen existing regional organisations and work and to maintain IFJ project division activities; d) That continental and regional groups should be consulted during the preparation of training and other programs for their membership. Reasonable suggestions should be recognized and accepted in finalizing such programs, taking into account the democratic needs, tradition and social circumstances in the region; e) That the IFJ seeks diversified sources of funding by encouraging more co- operation with regional sources of funding and creating a balance of partnerships with national development agencies, foundations and international organisations; 15. WORLD SURVEY ON SOCIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS OF JOURNALISTS Proposer: Executive Committee The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, NOTING that journalism in many parts of the world suffers from a profound crisis due to the poor social and economic circumstances in which media operate; BELIEVING profoundly that press freedom cannot survive unless journalists are able to work independently of political and commercial forces; CONVINCED that strong, independent trade unions of journalists that can defend social and professional values are vital to democracy; INSISTING that media development programmes must recognise the importance of social improvement for journalists and media staff and the need for trade union organisation, INSTRUCTS the Executive Committee to seek funding for a project to carry out a world survey on the social and professional status of journalists with the following aims: 1. to establish and ascertain the numbers of people engaged in journalism, the nature of their work and the conditions of their employment; 2. to identify the legal conditions, both social and professional, in which journalists work, 3. to review the national and regional organisations that represent the social and professional interests of journalists and to consider their legal and professional standing; 4. to prepare recommendations for IFJ activities, programmes and projects designed to promote, create and strengthen national unions and associations and regional networks of journalists. 16. WORLD CONFERENCE ON JOURNALISM AND THE WAR ON TERRORISM Proposer: Executive Committee The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, BELIEVING that all forms of indiscriminate violence and terrorism are antithetical to the exercise of press freedom and independent journalism; ENDORSING the actions and statements of the Executive Committee following the events of September 11th 2001; SUPPORTING the conclusions and recommendations of the IFJ Report Journalism, civil liberties and the war on terrorism; NOTING that stringent security measures being implemented in the name of the war on terrorism have had a specific impact on journalists and their work; CONDEMNING the arbitrary nature of actions taken against journalists in membership of a number of IFJ 33 34 JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE unions by the authorities and immigration officials in 2003 and 2004, INSISTING that legitimate action against terrorism and the need to protect public welfare should not lead to violations of fundamental civil liberties; CALLS on the IFJ Executive Committee to seek funding for the organisation during 2005 of a world conference of journalists' organisations to consider the impact of the socalled war on terrorism on the work of journalists, to examine how media are reporting this crisis and to build global solidarity within journalism against actions which limit civil liberties unnecessarily or which undermine the capacity of journalists to report freely. 17. JOURNALISM AND NEWS SAFETY Proposer: Executive Committee The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, NOTING that 43 journalists and other media workers were killed in Iraq-- 11 of them directly killed by US fire - the biggest death toll of journalists in any war; RECOGNISING that news safety is of vital importance to all journalists and media staff; BELIEVING that safety is an issue for all groups in industry, including employers and trade unions; INSISTING that safety is a priority concern for media development work, particularly in regions of conflict; ENDORSES the Executive Committee action in supporting the International News Safety Institute and urges all member unions to lend their support to this global campaign to promote a culture of safety in journalism. GIVES ITS FULL BACKING to the call made by the IFJ Executive Committee for three new laws to protect journalists to give them added protection, as was recently done for humanitarian aid workers; to establish an international framework for the independent investigation of killing journalists and media staff. This must include the capacity to call witnesses and to obtain information from all relevant sources of information; to make the deliberate targeting of journalists and media staff an explicit crime under international law; - to make the failure to provide adequate protection to journalists or to act in any way that recklessly endangers the lives of media staff or leads to the death of journalists or media staff an explicit crime punishable under international law. 18. GENDER RIGHTS Proposer: Executive Committee The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, NOTING the report of the Gender Council and the Executive Committee, WELCOMING the efforts that have been made to implement the Action Plan adopted by the Seoul Congress, REITERATING Our commitment equal representation of women in all areas of the work of the IFJ and its member unions, BELIEVING that unions can do more to put into effect the aims and objectives of the action plan particularly by supporting the regional co- ordination of gender rights work INSTRUCTS the Executive Committee to continue to support the work of the Gender Council and to ensure that the aims and objectives of the Action Plan are properly reflected in the pursuit of IFJ activities and, in particular, in the development of project and regional work; to make it a top priority of the IFJ to find funding for all regions that have not yet had a regional workshop to develop and define their own plans of action so that by 2007 all regions will have met; to develop and define a guide for all member unions on the concept of" mainstreaming", how it works and can be applied, and to include an overview of specific examples of what gender related issues and problems are; to inform/ remind all member unions of their responsibilities and agreements concerning gender issues and to appoint at least one contact person who will be responsible for these issues; to create and develop a system to encourage member unions to implement practical measures, to review those measures and to report to Congress on progress REPORT OF THE XXV IFJ WORLD CONGRESS by member unions towards achieving IFJ policy on gender equality; to ensure a small budget for Gender Council work not covered by specific projects but which are deemed essential by the Steering Committee to improve access to projects and programs of the Gender Council and its Steering Committee. 19. GLOBALISATION AND DEMOCRATIC LIBERTIES Proposer: Executive Committee The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, NOTING that media and information services form an increasingly important sector of the global economy RECOGNISING that globalisation is having a detrimental effect on traditional values of journalism as the work of news and media staff becomes more intensive and subject to intolerable stress because of increasing competition CONCERNED at the consequent threats to working conditions in terms of employment, freelance work, and authors' rights BELIEVING that media concentration is a dangerous byproduct of globalisation that threatens pluralism and is leading to new pressure on public service values in media, particularly in the public broadcasting sector DECLARES that the IFJ Executive Committee must respond to the challenges of globalisation by strengthening the capacity of journalists' trade unions to confront the threats posed by globalisation. In particular, the Executive Committee should: develop IFJ regional and international strategies to assist national unions to achieve viability and effectiveness in their work against the threats outlined; support and co- ordinate regional and international campaigns involving national unions to promote solidarity in industrial disputes and joint actions over transnational media employers; establish regional and international union networks, using web- based systems of communication, to circulate information; encourage the development of strategies that suit the needs of each region recognising the differences in forms of organisation, media tradition and variations in the in the impact of media globalisation. 20. RIGHTS OF JOURNALISTS Proposer: Trade Union of Croatian Journalists The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, NOTING the evident deterioration of labour, social and professional rights of journalists worldwide; BELIEVING that the IFJ should whenever appropriate make the rights of journalists the central objective of its work; INSISTING that associations of media employers should take their share of responsibility in defending freedom of the media; FURTHER BELIEVING that officials dealing with freedom of the media in any organisation should recognise basic human rights of journalists, AGREES that documents dealing with freedom of the media from the IFJ should include labour, social and professional rights of journalists and be formulated as follows:" protection of freedom of the media and labour, social and professional rights of journalists". 21. HIV- AIDS Proposer: Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, Australia The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30, 2004, NOTING that at the end of 2003 there was an estimated 34 and 46 million people living with HIV/ AIDS and that in Sub- Saharan Africa it is estimated that one in five adults are living with HIV/ AIDS; EXPRESSING profound concern that levels of understanding of HIV/ AIDS, along with the main ways of avoiding infection, are still woefully low; RECOGNISING the vital role the media plays in preventing the spread of HIV through education; APPLAUDING the UNAIDS Global Media AIDS Initiative launched early in 2004, which seeks to activate media organisations worldwide to designate the fight against AIDS as a corporate priority; encourage media to commit time and space to the issue of HIV/ AIDS 35 36 JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE reporting; provide local and global coverage of the epidemic; train journalists in HIV/ AIDS reporting; support the development of AIDS- related shows, films and documentaries; and provide workforce education about HIV/ AIDS, DECLARES that the IFJ should take action on these issues through a four- pronged approach by endorsing the UNAIDS Global Media AIDS Initiative and working in partnership with UNAIDS to expand the Global Media AIDS Initiative to include print media and directly engaging journalists and the IFJ; developing a journalists' education strategy around training and the development of a media guide on HIV/ AIDS; introducing a journalism prize for excellence in HIV/ AIDS reporting; developing a forum of media experts on the issue. 22. JOURNALISTS' RIGHTS IN TAIWAN Proposer: Association of Taiwan Journalists The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30, 2004, NOTING that Taiwanese journalists were refused accreditation for the annual conference of the World Health Organisation which took place in mid- May 2004-- this unjust treatment has seriously undermined Taiwanese journalists' right to work;, NOTING that the reject was based on the grounds that Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, Taiwan being expelled from the UN since 1971, due to opposition from China. Likewise Taiwan has been excluded from all organisations linked to the UN, including the WHO. In spite of that, Taiwanese journalists have always been able to obtain accreditation until now. This is doubtless a backward step for the freedom of the press; AWARE that the historical complexities between Taiwan and China are of long duration. Even though Taiwan has been isolated by these boycotts, the refusal of these passports is totally groundless. People in Taiwan have the right to know the reason for such a refusal, RESOLVES that an official announcement supporting the freedom of the press and the right to work of Taiwanese journalists in this case be made in the name of the IFJ and that a letter be sent in the name of the IFJ to the UN General Secretariat, urging them to observe a high standard of press freedom and to prevent the recurrence of such a situation in future. 23. AUTHORS' RIGHTS Proposers: General Association of Belgian Working Journalists( AGJPB) and National Union of Journalists in France ( SNJ), backed by AREG The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30, 2004, ACKNOWLEDGING that in Belgium, printed press publishers have relaunched their aggressive political campaign aimed at grabbing journalists' authors' rights by introducing a presumption of transfer on their behalf in the authors' rights bill; in France, the bill implementing the European directive on authors' rights amends on unfavourable terms current provisions of the Intellectual property code stipulating that the existence of an employment contract does not deprive by any means the employed journalists of their authors' rights, CONDEMNS these onslaughts on the part of media employers against two of the most protective European legislations regarding journalists' authors' rights, CALLS upon concerned governments and parliaments not to give in to pressure from media employers, motivated by commercial considerations, but to uphold and reaffirm the current balance and ownership of authors' rights by journalists. 24. DEMOCRATIZATION AND JOURNALISTS' RIGHTS Proposer: Association of Journalists of Republika Srpska The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30, 2004, NOTING the importance of the media in the democratisation process of countries in transition from dictatorship, the evident deterioration in the labour, social and professional rights of journalists in these countries and the necessity of these rights for democracy; FURTHER NOTING that Journalists' professional rights and freedoms are a main objective of the IFJ; REPORT OF THE XXV IFI WORLD CONGRESS BELIEVING that organisations helping to democratize the media should support efforts to improve these rights as part of their mandate; and INSISTING that media democratisation must go handin- hand with the improvement of journalists' professional rights; AGREES to call upon international agencies and media freedom donor organisations dealing with countries in transition to include the defence of the social and professional rights of journalists as a vital element in their programmes. 25. DEVELOPING A FREE AND INDEPENDENT MEDIA IN SOMALIA Proposer: Somali Journalists Network( SOJON) The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30, 2004, NOTING that Somali journalists experienced many problems during the military regime, 65 journalists were killed during the civil war; several journalists lost their jobs during the chaos; EXPRESSING that developing a free and independent media in Somalia is a smain mission to ensure the victorious evolution to democratic system after 21 years of military dictatorship and about 15 years of anarchism; CONSIDERING the increasing number of violations against freedom of press in Somalia: it is exceeding more than 11 cases only in the first half of 2004; ADMIRING the role of Somali Journalists Network in increasing the defence and promotion of Somali journalists; DECLARES that the IFJ should take actions through three objectives: Engaging unity for Somali journalists, who were divided by the politicised tribalism and different political blocks in the country; Strengthening journalists in advocating free and independent media so as to develop a legalized programme, which can enable Somali journalists to have self- regulation; Providing courses about objective journalism in order to minimize the increasing unprofessional conducts from the journalists. 26. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING RIGHTS Proposer: National Writers Union, USA The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30, 2004, NOTING that freelance writers in the United States are denied the right to collectively bargain or enter into collective bargaining agreements without risking violating antitrust laws; NOTING furthermore that the publishing industry in the US has been allowed to undergo many corporate mergers, resulting in media publishing giants; NOTING furthermore that this situation has created an uneven playing field between media/ publishing giants and freelance writers; BELIEVING that the right of freelance writers to collectively organise, bargain and contract is vital to the protection and improvement of the conditions and standards under which freelance writers work, AGREES to endorse and support the efforts of the National Writers Union to have legislation passed by the United States Congress exempting freelance writers from US antitrust law. 27. RESPECT OF BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS Proposer: Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance PREAMBLE The movement of people across the world escaping torture, repression, persecution, war and famine has become a vital issue in the 21st century. These armies of downtrodden people, without rights and without assets, are now seeking safe haven in the more privileged countries of the world. They are being met with harsh measures which do not recognise their rights as human beings. Often they are demonised by Governments and they are treated as second- class people without rights to work, without access to basic medical care or education for their children. They are exploited by unscrupulous bosses and many women find themselves forced into the sex trade and are trafficked around the world. Often they are turned back from borders and some have been sent to their deaths in the countries from which they fled. 137 JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE 38 In some countries such as Australia they are locked up without trial and held indefinitely under harsh conditions in concentration camps in the Australian desert or offshore on Pacific Islands. Their rights under the UN Charter for Refugees are ignored. Recently, the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission released its study on conditions for children in these camps and found their rights under the UN Charter for the Rights of the Child had been severely breached. Attempts by journalists tell the stories of these people have been refused. The Government has used privacy laws and sweeping regulations that create media free zones around any part of the country it wishes to nominate to deny scrutiny of their actions. The IFJ condemns all governments for the human rights abuses being heapepd on refugees, some of the most vulnerable people in the world. Further it condemns the Australian Government for its policy of mandatory detention, for its human rights abuses and its attacks on the freedom of the press. It condemns the Australian Government for holding for three years Ivory Coast journalist Cheikh Kone in Port Hedland detention centre despite pleas on his behalf by the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance that he qualified as a refugee under UN Conventions. It condemns the Australian Government, which after finally recognizing his case, gave him a visa, also presented him with a bill of$ 90,000 to cover the costs of his" accommodation at Port Hedland". We note that recently Cheikh was invited to speak at a conference in Spain but the Government refused to allow him to leave the country citing fears he would abscond and not pay his" hotel bill". The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30, 2004, CONDEMNS the actions of the Australian Government in using these clauses to stifle free speech; CALLS, through IFJ affiliates, to educate journalists on this issue, and on the UN Convention on refugees and the rights of the child, to counter attempts by Governments to demonise these people and deny them their basic human rights; and ENCOURAGES the IFJ to increase monitoring of journalists being held in detention so local affiliates can act on their behalf. ( Reference Full HREOC report: http://www.hreoc.gov.au/human_rights/children_detentio n_report/ report/ index.htm) 28. JOURNALISM AND NEWS SAFETY Proposer: Association of Journalists of Serbia The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30, 2004, concerned to note that the use of force in international relations is persistent; believing that all forms of use of military force against media is unacceptable; insisting that security of journalist and media workers is of at- most importance for impartial and objective coverage of events; INVITES the Executive Committee of the IFJ to call on the complete ban on targeting media in war conflicts within its campaign for Security of journalists, strongly condemning all targeting of media as a military target. 29. MEDIA OWNERSHIP Proposers: Panhellenic Federation of Journalists' Unions, JUADN, PEPU, Journalists' Union of Macedonian and Thrace Daily Newspapers, Greece The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30, 2004, NOTES the atmosphere of insecurity in Greek media in recent months with a barrage of lay offs. In order to stop this process the unions have proclaimed a series of strikes and work stoppages at newspapers and radio stations. The Congress PROTESTS against this policy of the media owners and gives all of its support to the unions in order to find solutions and to minimize the consequences for Greek journalists. REPORT OF THE XXV IFJ WORLD CONGRESS MOTIONS REMITTED TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHANGES TO IFJ CONSTITUTION Proponer: Deutscher Journalisten- Verband Section VII. Congress, Point 17 by adding the following new scale: Up to 15.000 members 8 delegates/ votes Over 15.000 members 10 delegates/ votes Section VIII, Executive Committee, Officers and Administrative Committee. Point 28. Add the following new sentence: " The President of the Federation can be re- elected only for one term." ETHICAL FUNDING OF IFJ WORK Proposer: National Union of Journalists, Great Britain and Ireland The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, NOTING the overview, vision and specific options raised by the General Secretary in his report on the funding of the IFJ future projects BELIEVING that the time has come for the IFJ to make choices regarding partners and future donors based on clear agreed principles. RECALLING that the IFJ, by its Constitution, is first and foremost a confederation of trade unions of journalists and, as such, should be guided by the overall universal values of trade unionism such as social responsibility, social justice and civil liberty and the universal principles of journalism such as ethics and independence AGREES that before accepting funds from donors for any purpose the IFJ must ensure that they should fulfill the criteria set out below: EbertFriedrich39 Stiftung Stiftung Bonn * Bibliothek Positive criteria: The IFJ should establish relationships with individuals, organisations, companies, foundations and governments which are committed to: - - - Core labour standards including recognition of trade unions Principles of freedom of the press, broadcasting, speech and information Human rights, the welfare of workers and respect for democratic values and good governance Equal opportunity and to the elimination of discrimination Genuine no- string attached aid to develop the human resources of local economies, organisations of workers and consumers and improve the environment Negative criteria: The IFJ should not take funds from individuals, organisations, companies, foundations and governments - Which are working against the ethos of journalism - Which abuse human rights and exploit communities Whose core activities benefit from financial speculation, third world debt and third world marketing which degrade local economies and harm workers and their communities Whose mission and objectives are to overtly or covertly implement agendas mirroring the ambitions of their government and politicians. Congress finally instructs the Executive committee to review the IFJ investment portfolios and banking arrangements to be in line with the guidelines above. 40 INTERNATIONAL CENTRE OF INFORMATION AND VIRTUAL LIBRARY Proposer: Asociación Nacional de Periodistas del Perú The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, - CONSIDERING: that human beings live in an era characterized by knowledge, information and communications, that this same era develops in a rapidly- changing context and accelerated form, which requires that the IFJ should change its forms of communication; that the process of scientific and technological transformation continues in an irreversible manner affecting daily journalism and the working and living conditions of journalists across the globe; that working journalists should participate actively in the knowledge, information and communication process, so as to close the information gap created by a minority of monopolies, AGREES to: 1. Create a Centre of Information and Virtual Library of the IFJ, based in Brussels, that will function as an information and document source for political, economic, social and professional themes related to journalism and social communication. 2. Develop the centre to receive and give information with the active participation of union organisations from all the continents, whether affiliated or not to the IFJ. The Centre will: Establish relations with the schools and faculties of journalism and non- governmental organisations responsible for the management of social communications. Maintain relations with the virtual libraries of international organisations, both state and private, as well as with governments in general. Be self- financing through the assistance of cooperating organisations and through the support of the IFJ affiliate organisations, which will be distinguished by means of a certification recognizing them as founding members. JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE WORLD SUMMIT ON INFORMATION SOCIETY Proposer: Swiss Federation IMPRESSUM The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, AGREES To provide an international, political and institutional support to Impressum and Comedia; To plan a financial support to Impressum and Comedia, according to the IFJ possibilities, for the preparation of the WSIS in Tunis in 2005. SUPPORT EFFORTS FOR PEACE PROCESS IN CYPRUS Proposer: Union of Press Workers( Basin- Sen), Cyprus The XXV Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, meeting in Athens from May 25-30th 2004, SUPPORTS permanent peace in Cyprus, and a" united" Cyprus to take place within the European Union. BELIEVES that tragic events, which took place between the two people of Cyprus( Greek and Turk) in the past should be forgotten and the two people should act mutually to create a better world to live in. - SALUTES the efforts of the Turkish Cypriot media, who- in the past and still executed its mission as the press by informing the Turkish Cypriot people about the plan and about the process, and underlines that the same effort should be shown by the Greek Cypriot Press. Filedrich- Ela * Stiftung EbertBonn Bibliothek * INTERNATIONAL safety NEW CALL FOR DONATIONS AS SAFETY FUND TOPS A MILLION The Congress celebrated the news that the IFJ's International Safety Fund had topped the million- Euro mark with new appeals for cash to ensure that the Fund continues to grow. The leaders of two key IFJ unions who have contributed to the Fund- Denmark and Australia- urged other unions to join help ensure that the Fund continues to grow by seeking donations for members. A special party at the Congress hotel swimming pool heard from some of the beneficiaries of the Fund from Indonesia and Liberia just how important assistance from the IFJ can be to those in the frontline of struggle for press freedom and journalists' rights. The Australian union the MEAA presented a cheque for 100,000 Euro, more than 3,000 Euro was raised from sale of Safety Fund T- shirts, mouse pads, mugs and IFJ reports and there were further donations on the spot worth more than 5,000 Euro. The new Executive Committee is to reform the use of the Fund and new support material was presented to delegates." The Fund is for journalists in need and it is our most visible expression of real solidarity," said Christopher Warren IFJ President." We must build it up in the years to come and ensure that we can answer the call for help from colleagues whenever it comes." Taking a poolside break during the Safety Fund raising dinner are Aidan White, General Secretary, Eddy Suprapto, from Indonesia, Winston Monboe, from Liberia PUL, Christopher Warren, IFJ President and Herbert Lumansi, from Uganda and newly- elected adviser. JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE Building Solidarity to Meet Global Challenges XXV World Congress hens, May 200 ΔΗΜΟΣΙΟΓΡΑΦΙΑ ΕΝ ΔΡΑΣΕΙ DANDU VI, THY BATA Hill Fl the trilier thay 100KA XXV Παγκόσμιο Συνέδριο A8ny 25-30 N 004 2 3 4 1 SA 13 15 12 14 5 LO 7 16 8 THE NEW EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: 1..... Olivo De Leon, Adviser 2.... Uli Remmel, Adviser 3... Mario Guastoni, Adviser 9.... Herbert Lumansi, Adviser 10.Mituru Osamura, Adviser 11 .Paolo Serventi Longhi, Adviser 4 ..Khady Cisse, Adviser 12 .Eva Stabell, Adviser 5... Hashhuu Naranjargal, Adviser 6... M'Jahed Younouss, Adviser 7 ..Elisabeth Costa, Adviser 8.... Arnold Amber, Adviser 6 10 * RU 11 18 17 20 19 17.... Osvaldo Urriolabeitia, Vice- President 18... Jim Boumelha, Honorary Treasurer 19.... Sabina Inderjit, Adviser 20... Nikos Megrelis, Adviser 13...Aidan White, General Secretary 14...Linda Foley, Vice- President 15.... Søren Wørmslev, Senior Vice- President 16.... Christopher Warren, President MISSING: Naim Tobassi, Adviser Jasmina Popovic, Adviser INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF JOURNALISTS INTERNATIONAL PRESS CENTRE RESIDENCE PALACE, BLOCK C 155 RUE DE LA LOI 1040 BRUSSELS BELGIUM TEL: 0032 2 235 2200 dl. IFJ UF THE 1.. 2 3 4 JOURNALISM ON THE MOVE Building Solidarity to Meet Global Challenges XXV World Congress ΔΗΜΟΣΙΟΓΡΑΦΙΑ ΕΝ ΔΡΑΣΕΙ Oxobopvros y okankcyyun yio may aripetoma v poria XXV Παγκόσμιο Συνέδριο 004 2 3 5 6 7 9 10 Centimetres Inches 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 5 Grayscale C Y M Sachverständigen- Zubehör.de 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 100% 50% 18% 0% ... Khady Cisse, Adviser 5... Hashhuu Naranjargal, Adviser 6 ... M'Jahed Younouss, Adviser 7..Elisabeth Costa, Adviser 8.... Arnold Amber. Adviser Centimetres Inches 2 1 12.... Eva Stabell, Adviser 13.... Aidan White, General Secretary 14. ... .Linda Foley, Vice- President 15.... Søren Wørmslev, Senior Vice- President 20... Nikos Megrelis, Adviser 5 8 8 10 11 12 13 14 MISSING: Naim Tobassi, Adviser 16 15 17 2 3 сл Color chart Sachverständigen- Zubehör.de Blue Cyan Green Red Yellow Magenta White Grey Black # C9C9FF # 0000FF # C0E5FC # 009FFF # 759675 # 008B00 # FFFFC7 # FFFF00 # FFC9C9 # FF0000 # FFC9FF #FFFFFF # FF00FF # 9D9E9E # D9DADA # 5B5B5B # 000000 INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF JOURNALISTS INTERNATIONAL PRESS CENTRE RESIDENCE PALACE, BLOCK C 155 RUE DE LA LOI 1040 BRUSSELS BELGIUM TEL: 0032 2 235 2200 વા ΓΙΑ IFJ