Ithaca College

Scholar in Residence, Honors Program, Raza Rumi will speak and moderate a #ProtectJournalists panel discussion at UN Headquarters on Sept 16, ahead of United Nations General Assembly.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) will host a panel discussion to raise awareness on the killings of journalists and the #ProtectJournalists campaign to appoint a Special Representative to the UNSG for the Safety of Journalists, endorsed by a large coalition of supporters.  

When: September 16, 2016 - 1:30pm  

Where: United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) press room at the UN Headquarters in New York, NY. 

Panelists will include:

- Yara Bader, Syrian Center for Media Director and wife of Mazen Darwish 

- Dunja Mijatovic, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media - 

Raza Rumi

- Maria Idalia Gomez, Mexican journalist and consultant for the Inter American Press Association on violence against journalists

The past five years have been the most deadly on record for journalists, with hundreds of journalists killed and many more attacked simply for doing their jobs. Murder is the ultimate form of censorship, and when a journalist is killed the right to information for the broader public is also imperiled.  The world’s major problems, from environmental issues to extremist violence, cannot be resolved without the work of journalists. The UN Action Plan on Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity was adopted in recognition of this, and the Sustainable Development Goals specifically address the right to access information.  Now, media outlets, journalists, NGOs and prominent figures on every continent have joined in calling for the appointment of a “journalists’ protector” and urging the UN and its Member States to give this position the political weight, capacity for rapid action and legitimacy to coordinate UN efforts for the safety of journalists. The goal is to establish a concrete mechanism that enforces international law and thereby finally reduces the number of journalists killed every year in the course of their work. Join us for a discussion with the journalists behind the statistics and hear why this initiative is needed. 

Please note, UN accreditation will be required to access the event.