The foreign affairs committee in the UK parliament has issued a detailed report about the state of the media around the world which included strong language for holding perpetuators-including countries- accountable. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) pledge £18m to protect journalists in danger zones around the world This includes £15m for a new prog to protect media freedom. Plus £3m for a new fund (run by UNESCO) that will support, train & provide legal support for journalists in danger zones.

The FCO called for and end to rhetorical support for journalist freedoms. “” The FCO should do more in public to shame those who persecute the media. We refer to examples in Malta, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.”

The report depended in large part on witness testimony from media organizations, such as the International Press Institute. Vice chair of IPI, Daoud Kuttab’s testimony was quoted on a number of issues including:

•All of these threats cause ‘self-censorship’.

•Media suffers from sustained a hostile legal, regulatory, or financial environment for the work of the press

•The media can also be pressured by state regulators if these are loyal to—rather than independent of—the government.

•But we were also repeatedly told about the problem of vested interests working to own the media in order to control it, whether politicians or wealthy individuals often linked with politics.

•But witnesses also suggested that media organizations themselves would benefit from financial assistance, as long as this was provided to them indirectly via an intermediary.

For a full reading of the report

Written testimony of Daoud Kuttab

Here is @daoudkuttab from @AmmanNet telling us about the difficulties of government owned media and the importance of independent media.



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— Foreign Affairs Committee (@CommonsForeign) May 3, 2019