IAWRT May 3 World Press Freedom Day Online Protest

0415 FINAL Iawrt May 3 poster

Defend press freedom, defend freedom of expression

 

Join IAWRT on May 3, 5pm Manila time via Zoom

 

 

 

On World Press Freedom Day, IAWRT in partnership with the Journalism and Media International Center of Oslo Met University, and in collaboration with UNESCO-Jakarta will hold an online protest action.

 

The protest theme in Defending Press Freedom and Freedom of Expression, in response to continuing attacks on journalists and human rights violations that put the lives of journalists at risk.

 

 

“Harassment of journalists not only affects media practitioners but shortchanges citizens who depend on the media to provide a critical service in society – denying people access to truth.”

 

IAWRT members around the world have themselves been subjected to attacks.

 

Enikass Radio and Television reporter and IAWRT Afghanistan member Malalai Maiwand and her driver were killed on December 10, 2020.

 

On the same day, Manila Today editor and IAWRT Communication officer Lady Ann Salem was arrested on planted evidence and trumped up charges that were dismissed on February 5, leading to her release on March 5.

 

However, Eastern Vista editor and IAWRT Philippines member Frenchie Mae Cumpio is still detained since February 7, 2020 on similar patterns of arrest and charges as Salem.

 

The online protest action is an act of solidarity among IAWRT’s hundreds of members in more than 40 countries as the world continues to struggle in the grip of pandemic, that has also impacted on many freedoms and rights, even press freedom.

 

The United Nations General Assembly declared May 3 as World Press Freedom Day, observed to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

 

To register, contact [email protected].

 

IAWRT members elected to Philippines’ NUJP

0416 iawrt on nujp article

Kath Cortez, Len Olea and Lady Ann Salem elected to 15-member National Directorate.

National Union of Journalists of the Philippines held hybrid online and offline congress. 

by Reynard Magtoto

 

IAWRT’s Communication Officer and Manila Today Editor Lady Ann Salem also known as Icy is one of the 15 elected members’ National Directorate of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) less than a month after her release.

 

Two other IAWRT members were elected to the Union’s new Board. The elected IAWRT members include Kathyrine Cortez, elected Vice Chairperson and Ronalyn Olea for the post of Secretary-general.

 

Salem’s election to the two-year term national directorate less than a month after her release from prison over trumped-up charges of illegal possession of firearms, is a living testament that journalism is never a crime.

 

Icy, along with labor organizer Rodrigo Esparago, was arrested during simultaneous raids on Dec. 10, 2020 and was charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives. A local court in Mandaluyong City rendered invalid the search warrant used for the arrests, and consequently ordered her release after three months in prison. Upon her election, Icy commits to take lead in NUJP’s Commission on Women Journalists with stronger unity among members of the union.

 

Icy was not the first IAWRT member to be imprisoned. Frenchie Mae Cumpio was also arrested over a year back and is still under prison detention. However, NUJP vowed to continue pushing for the release of Frenchie Mae Cumpio, who remains in detention over the same trumped-up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives as Icy was.

 

Also to note, is that, the Eastern Vista Executive Director Cumpio was also labeled as a “propagandist for the communists” for telling the stories of the marginalized communities in the Eastern Visayas region. Cumpio’s continued detention in Tacloban City, and the killings of 19 journalists under the Duterte administration prove that these are not idle threats therefore the need to consistent robust demand for freedom of expression and uncensored media.

 

NUJP continues to strongly condemn the red-tagging of its members, colleagues, and of the organization itself. The Union emphasize the vow to step up its campaign against such malicious efforts, and hold responsible those behind these systematic attacks against Filipino Journalists.

 

Meanwhile the election of the new NUJP National Directorate members follows a concluded nationwide and global union of Filipino Journalists Congress held earlier this month on the 11th in a blended platform that gathered more than a hundred members from 34 chapters in the country and from the Middle East and Europe last March 20-21.

 

The election of International Association of Women in Radio & Television (IAWRT) members on the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) national Directorate is positive move in making the Union stronger to fight for press freedom and journalists’ safety and as well as welfare.

,

IAWRT calls for stronger measures to protect women journalists in Afghanistan

The International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) stands in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan calling for a peaceful transition of power with respect to the rights of everyone, especially women and girls.

IAWRT calls upon the international community to ensure that the rights of women and girls are respected, with special regard to women journalists and media professionals.

Threats and attacks against women journalists and media professionals, including our colleagues and fellow members in Afghanistan, have increased sharply in recent months since the withdrawal of allied forces from Afghanistan. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), there is a long list of journalists who have received death threats, driving many underground or to leave the country altogether. 

The declining security situation poses a serious threat to the achievements of the last two decades regarding freedom of expression and threatens to push back decades of hard-won progress for women and girls who are now terrified of a return to a repressive past under the Taliban. 

“There are many journalists and female social activists whose lives hang in the balance and whose stories may never be told as the Taliban takes over – once again. These are the brave women who challenged the status quo fighting for fundamental rights, but have been left behind while terror strikes,” says IAWRT President Violet Gonda.

IAWRT, therefore, calls on the following:

  • The current leadership must guarantee the safety of women journalists, media professionals, and activists in Afghanistan.
  • Women’s organizations around the world should join in solidarity to call for the freedom of women journalists, media professionals, and activists in Afghanistan.
  • The international community should immediately facilitate visas for Afghan journalists and media professionals, especially women and their families including elderly dependents and minor children.
  • In light of the rapidly deteriorating situation at the airport and in the city, there should be protection provided for Afghan civilians being airlifted – from their homes till they reach the airport terminal building.
  • The international community must continue its engagement in brokering peace in Afghanistan.

International Women’s Day Webinar on Gender Awareness in Journalism

Mar 8 Group photo 01

International Women’s Day 2021

Discussion on marginalization and stereotypes: how to build gender awareness among journalism educators

by Yanni Roxas

 

In commemoration of the International Women’s Day 2021, the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) together with the Journalism and Media International Center (JMIC) Oslo organized and hosted a webinar themed: Marginalization and stereotypes: How to build gender awareness among journalism educators.  The webinar attracted close to 100 participants that included women experts on journalism education and research from different countries around the globe who explored the diverse challenges driven by stereotypes against women. Over 200 people viewed the event on Facebook. The March 8th webinar also marked the launch of a special issue of the Journalism Education journal. 

Elisabeth Eide, Professor Emerita of JMIC/OsloMet moderated the event while Violet Gonda, president of IAWRT, did the opening remarks.  Giving the introduction was Gita Bamezai, Professor and former Head of Communication Research at the India Institute of Mass Communication.

The panelists who shed light on the situation of women in media in their own countries were Samiksha Koirala, Lecturer, Nepal Open University; Florence Namasinga Selnes, Postdoctoral Fellow, Uganda/Norway; Karen Ross, Professor of Gender and Media, Newcastle University, UK; Hani Yousuf, Journalist and Writer, Maldives; and Greta Gober, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Media Studies, Stockholm University and IAWRT Vice President, Poland/Sweden.

The speakers highlighted such issues as the representation and participation of women in media, gender perspective in education, gender equality or parity, marginalization of women in the newsroom, intersectionality, and stereotyped ideas, beliefs and media representation of women in general.

All were unanimous in saying that though some changes or improvements were noted the progress is still slow and more needs to be done.   

Suggestions to solve the issues of women in media included more representation of women in higher positions or in “serious” beats, taking gender equality seriously, translating research into workable data, ensuring critical thinking and gender-focused programs in journalism schools, and fighting against backlashes on women’s gains. 

Also mentioned were the coverage of women during the Covid pandemic and the impact of social media or digital landscape on women journalists.

Some useful resources were also introduced such as the special issue on gender and journalism education of Journalism Education journal; IAWRT’s What if…? Safety Handbook for Women Journalists written by Abeer Saady, a renowned media consultant and trainer, war correspondent, and researcher available in English and in Arabic; IAWRT’s Handbook on Working Towards Gender Equality in the Media written by Greta Gober; the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP); the AGEMI Online Knowledge Platform; and finally the book Comparing Gender and Media Equality Across the Globe edited by Monika Djerf-Pierre and Maria Edström. All of these resources are open source and available online.  

The event was recorded and is available on IAWRT’s Facebook page. 

 

Breaking News: Journalist Lady Ann Salem Released

icy release

A regional court in Manila issued a release order on 5 March for IAWRT Communications Officer Lady Ann Salem. Followig the court order Lady Ann and her colleague were released at 5:54 pm Manila time, after almost three months in jail.

 

Salem, who is also the editor of the online publication Manila today, was arrested on 10 December on trumped up ‘weapon possession’ charges. Seven other individuals including trade unionist Rodrigo Esparago were arrested during a crackdown on International Human Rights Day. 

 

Earlier, the local court found the search warrant used to enter Salem’s  house as invalid, rendering the firearms and explosives purportedly found in her possession as inadmissible. Government prosecutors, however, opposed her release. 

 

However, in a four-page decision, Judge Monique Ignacio said the government prosecutor’s opposition to Salem’s release is “bereft of merit” and that the “trial court is empowered to immediately release the accused if the evidence in record clearly fails to establish probable cause.” 

 

The court also did not find the witnesses against Salem as credible. In their accounts, they claimed to be delivering guns and ammunition to her house from May to October 2020, when the detained journalist only moved to the rented home in October 2020.

 

The International Association of Women in Radio and Television welcomed the decision by the Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court, but condemns the relentless and continued attacks of journalists in the Philippines.

 

By Janess Ann Ellao

 

Save the date!

0421 edit article

“Challenging marginalization and stereotypes: How to build gender awareness among journalism educators” 

An International Women’s Day Online Event hosted by Journalism and Media International Center (JMIC) Oslo Met – Oslo Metropolitan University in partnership with IAWRT

On March 8, International Women’s Day, JMIC & IAWRT will host an online event to launch of a special issue of the Journalism Education journal, addressing issues of marginalization and stereotypes in journalism education. A globally composed panel will address experiences on how to mainstream gender perspectives in journalism education with speakers India, Nepal, Uganda, United States, Poland, United Kingdom and Norway.

 

The event will take place at:

8 am/ 8:00 in New York,
1pm/ 13:00 in London,
2 pm/ 14:00 in Oslo/Berlin,
4 pm/ 16:00 in Uganda,
6:30 pm/ 18:30 in New Delhi
9 pm/ 21:00 in Manila

 

A unique National Community Media Film Festival organized in India for the 3rd time!

Chandiram Film Festival 21 c

 

The Jai Chandiram Memorial National Community Media Film Festival is named after the founder trustee of the India chapter of IAWRT and President of IAWRT International (2001-2005), the late Jai Chandiram, in recognition of her significant contribution to community media. The festival is a wonderful platform that brings together community media producers from across the country to share their work and to interact with each other.

The festival is organized by the Deccan Development Society’s Community Media Trust. The Deccan Development Society (DDS) is a community-based organisation that has been working through women’s sanghams (local associations) in 75 villages of Sangareddy District in the state of Telangana, Southern India, for more than three decades. It has a membership of over 5000 women farmers, from the most impoverished and oppressed strata of society. They have been very proactive in mobilising to address their common concerns of food security, natural resource enhancement, education, and health. Community media, both video and radio, forms a key part of their work.

In his opening remarks, PV Satheesh, Director and one of the founding members of DDS, said, “The Jai Chandiram Memorial Community Media Film Festival started its journey in the year 2017. Jai Chandiram, who was a prominent television filmmaker and producer, has always been our spiritual mentor and inspiration because of her work and ideals. Though Jai Chandiram worked in commercial television, her empathy lay with rural, oppressed women and children. And that is why the Community Media Trust (CMT) of DDS decided to celebrate the film festival in her name.”

This year’s edition received an overwhelming response of 27 national entries from 11 Indian states and 7 international entries from West Africa. The festival was organized on 13th February 2021 as a physical event, with virtual presence of jury members.

The jury included Reena Mohan, member of the IAWRT International Board and a noted documentary filmmaker and editor, Prof Anjali Monteiro, IAWRT India member and documentary film maker, as well as Prof KP Jayasankar, award-winning documentary filmmaker, Chinna Narsamma, veteran filmmaker and coordinator of CMT, Prof Kanchan K Malik, University of Hyderabad, and Vijendra Patil, Director of Bars & Tones, Pune.

The three award winning films are:

Log Drum of Pessao (31 mins, Assamese, 2019) jointly made by four fellows of the Green Hub Fellowship programme, that works with young indigenous people in the North-East of India, received the first prize. The film painstakingly documents a rare community practice, from an insider’s point of view: the making of the ceremonial log  drum of Nagaland. It is well shot and edited and gives space to community voices.

Buchad – Heap of Soyabean Crop (23 mins, Hindi, 2021) made by Vishal Garand of Ingit Productions, Maharashtra, received the second prize. It is a short fiction film that represents the travails of a small farmer in the face of climate change, lack of state support and an iniquitous system that ultimately drives him to ruin.

Identity of a Woman as a Farmer (5 mins, Gujarati, 2020) directed by Chandrika Makwana and jointly produced by Drishti and ANANDI, Ahmedabad, received the jury award. The film foregrounds women’s involvement in agriculture and their rights to agricultural property. It is an idea that needs wider dissemination and debate in our patriarchal society.

Anjali Monteiro

IAWRT Chapter India

Save the date!

film festival

Asian Women’s Film Festival 2021 IS GOING ONLINE! 

IAWRT India is thrilled to invite you to the 17th edition of Asian Women’s Film Festival. Please mark these dates in your calendar! Asian Women’s Film Festival is one of IAWRT’s most important annual events and this year it is fully online! 

SAVE THE DATE – 5-7th March, 2021

You can register for festival updates here!  

#iawrt2021 #cinema #filmfestival#womenfilmmakers #iawrtindia

 

 

 

Journalist Lady Ann Salem Still in Jail Despite Court Dismissal Order

City Jail

Journalist Lady Ann Salem is still in jail, a week after a regional court in the Philippines dismissed trumped-up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

The International Association of Radio and Television (IAWRT) Communications Officer and editor of the online publication Manila Today has been behind bars since her arrest on 10 December.

Her lawyers from The Public Interest Law Center (PILC) filed an urgent motion for release but the prosecution team has aired its opposition. “In response to the opposition of the prosecutor, we argue that the dismissal operates as an acquittal – it is a judgement based on evidence, and on the merits of the case – and is thus final and unappealable. Consequently, the issuance of a release order should be automatic and mandatory. We hope the judge considers this as fairly and as quickly as possible,”  the PILC said in a statement.

Salem’s legal counsel said it’s imperative that the regional court in the Philippines expedite the process to grant her full freedom. IAWRT protests Salem’s continued wrongful detention. Delaying her release is delaying her rightful justice.

IAWRT also calls for a speedy hearing of the case of another IAWRT member, Frenchie Mae Cumpio, who has been in detention for over a year now. Journalism is not a crime. No one deserves to be kept behind prison bars for exercising the right to freedom of speech nor deserves persecution for being a journalist.

 

Violet Gonda

President, IAWRT

[email protected]

www.iawrt.org

 

 

 

Charges against Lady Ann Salem dismissed

1E917D46-9216-4DF4-AE55-FA3785148FB2

 

Philippines Court Dismisses Charges Against Journalist Lady Ann Salem

5 February 2021

A regional court in the Philippines has dismissed the case of ‘illegal possession of firearms and explosives’ against journalist Lady Ann Salem (Icy). 

Icy, who is the Communications Officer for the International Association of Women in Radio and Television and editor of the online publication Manila Today, has been in police custody since police raided her home and illegally confiscated equipment on December 10, 2020. 

The court ruling is a triumph for press freedom as journalists around the world continue to  grapple with repressive authoritarian regimes. IAWRT would like to express gratitude to her legal team, who have worked relentlessly towards the release of our Communications Officer.  

Her Filipino lawyers from the Public Interest Law Center announced on Friday that the local trial court declared the search warrant used to search her home as ‘null and void’. As such, the purported evidence against her, which she has long maintained as planted, are inadmissible before the Philippine court. 

“The dismissal of charges clearly demolishes the Duterte government’s vilification and red-tagging campaign against Human Rights Day 7. It is a severe blow to the NTF-ELCAC, which claimed the arrests as a victory in the anti-insurgency campaign. The first blow was their failure to assert this in court: there was no crime to file about it, meaning, it had no legal impact. The nail in the coffin is the dismissal of the cases, exposing not just faulty police work but vicious political persecution,” the Public Interest Law Center said in a statement.

Salem is expected to be released from detention soon now that the charges have been dropped. 

IAWRT also demands the immediate release of another IAWRT member Frenchie Mae Cumpio who has been in jail for over a year for trumped-up charges. Also in this case the police claim to have found weapons and explosives. IAWRT also  demands that the Police immediately return IAWRT equipment illegally seized during the raid.et

We thank our colleagues in the media profession, the human rights community,  and democracy-loving groups and individuals for their support in this fight. 

Reference: https://www.facebook.com/pilcphilippines/posts/1577440415790837

Violet Gonda

President, IAWRT
[email protected]
www.iawrt.org

 

 

Our Network