Mediterranean Journalists Call for Freedom to Report

The Mediterranean Media Meeting (MMM) hosted in Menton, southeast France, was attended by around 40 journalists from 18 countries. From Turkey, bianet’s freedom of expression editor Erol Önderoğlu took part.

The conference, organised by the Mediterranean Press Club, was supported by the local authorities of Nice and Menton and took place from 16 to 17 January.

Gaza main topic

The most important topic of discussion was the Israeli operation in Gaza, in which more than 1,300 Palestinians died.

Both during workshops attended by journalists and when meeting locals, the situation in Gaza, as well as press freedom and ethics of reporting were discussed.

Two journalists from Israel said that the Hamas organisation had threatened Israeli settlements for years. They added that when the Israeli army started operations, oppononents of the operation were also allowed to appear in the media. Around 10 journalists from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Algeria, Morooco and Tunisia said that this was misinformation and criticised their defence of civilian deaths.

Journalist Christian Chesnot, who, together with Georges Malbrunot, had been kidnapped by armed groups in Iraq for four months in 2004, attended the conference as a “witness”.

The conference was also attended by Jerome Bastion, who reports from Turkey to France for the RFI and Kanal 24 channels. A Palestinian reporter was prevented from attending by the events in Gaza.

Call for press freedom

The meeting ended with the composition of a “Menton Declaration”:

“We call on all political and economic organisations and associations of the Mediterranean to protect the right of the 465 million people living in this area to have access to pluralist news reporting and the right of reporters to carry out their profession in safety.”

“We desire that the technological developments in the media are used to promote liberties and with respect for values and rules of reporting. We demand that all young journalists are allowed to make use of the right to professional training and that reporters on duty are allowed to make use of continuing training.”

The press statement also commemorated those reporters killed or wounded in Gaza and expressed support for those prevented from carrying out their profession.

Attendants:

Algeria: Andelkader İkhenache and Nadia Bouzhegrane, Croatia: Visnja Staresina and Sylvia Luks, Egypt: Randa Achmawi and Claude Guibal, Spain: Juan Pedro Quinonero and Merce İbarz, France: Véronique Garé, Caroline Poiron and Marc-François Bernier, Greece: Effy Tselikas and Alexia Kefalas, Israel: Maurice İfergan, Gideon Kouts ve Jean-Marie Hosatte, Italy: Paolo Valenti and Anne Le Nir, Lebanon: Paul Khalifeh, Scarlett Haddad and Magda Abu Fadıl, Malta: Daphné Cassar and Vanessa Macdonald, Morocco: Nadia Lamlili and Cerise Maréchaud, Monaco: Patrice Zehr, Jean-Louis Filc and Pierre-Yves Reichnecker, Portugal: Marie-Line Darcy Arsicaud, Slovenia: Barbara Zrimsek, Syria: Basheer Al Baker, Tunisia: Amel Bejaoui. (EÖ/AG)