International organizations promoting press freedom met with the OPC and other members of the International Association of Press Clubs in Vienna in mid-June to network and brainstorm about possible partnerships.
Index on Censorship, based in London and the inspiration of the poet Stephen Spender, combines journalism, campaigning and advocacy to defend freedom of expression. They support journalists, writers, social media users, bloggers, artists, politicians and more.
“We highlight violations and celebrate the projects fighting to overcome such oppression,” said Vicky Baker, deputy editor of the Index on Censorship magazine, which was started in 1972 to publish the untold stories of dissidents behind the Iron Curtain. “We would love to hear from Overseas Press Club members in the US with story ideas.” Her email is Vicky@indexoncensorship.org.
The latest issue of the magazine includes a look at “Generation Wall” – the young people who grew up in a free eastern Europe, written by 23-year-old Tymoteusz Chajdas from Poland. Vicky and Patricia Kranz of the OPC are exploring the possibility of hosting a joint event via an online linkup such as Google Hangouts or Skype.
International Media Support works with journalists and media in countries affected by armed conflict, political transition and civil unrest. Susanna Inkinen, the IMS’s media advisor, has spent 12 years in Afghanistan. She left the conference early to get back to Kabul in time for the presidential election in mid-June.
Following the election, hundreds of Afghans protested against alleged fraud and tensions rose between ethnic groups. In an effort to prevent Afghan media from fueling tensions further through impartial and inaccurate reporting, the IMS-founded Afghan Journalist Safety Committee succeeded in securing commitment from more than 50 Afghan media outlets to adhere to guidelines on how to report professionally on the elections in this violent post-election context.
Inkinen believes that safety and risk management techniques should be part of the professional toolkit of every journalist traveling in warzones. “Safety is about do’s and don’ts, understanding the local context, good conflict-
sensitive reporting, basic first-aid skills and practicing secure communication,” she told the press club representatives.
The safety of freelance journalists is the major focus of RISC, which stands for Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues (RISC). With financial support from the OPC, RISC Deputy Director
Lily Hindy traveled to the IAPC meeting, where she and colleague Pascal Mora demonstrated how journalists can use RISC’s medical kit to save injured colleagues.
Journalist Sebastian Junger founded RISC after his close friend and colleague, Tim Hetherington, died from wounds while covering the Libyan conflict. RISC’s four day-training program is free to qualified applicants.
The Media Legal Defense Initiative supports journalists, bloggers and independent media in the courtroom rather than the battlefield. It pays legal fees and works with individual lawyers
around the world or with national organizations that provide legal aid to journalists. “We are successful in 73% of cases,” said John Barker, chief operating officer. The MLDI either won cases on appeal, or the charges were dropped.
The work of the International Press Institute is well known to many OPC members. IPI’s “Death Watch” tracks journalists who are targeted because of their profession. It also is one of
the most active media advocacy groups. In late June, for example, it sent a letter to Egypt President
Abdel Fattah El-Sisi , calling on him to pardon the convicted Al Jazeera journalists. Christiane Klint of IPI reported that 43 journalists had been killed by mid-2014, compared with 122 in all of 2013 and 133 in 2012.
The IAPC conference was hosted by Vienna’s 155-year old Pressclub Concordia. Attending were representatives of press clubs from Warsaw, Berlin, London, Brussels, Switzerland, South Asia, Belarus, Ukraine, Jerusalem and Mongolia.
Patricia Kranz and Sonya Fry represented the OPC.
Highlights of the meeting included an exhibition titled Media and War 1914-1918 and the formal Concordia Ball held in Vienna’s beautiful gothic Rathaus (City Hall).