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)