says the IFJ
SOURCE: International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Brussels
(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:
Journalists Say Johannesburg Summit Must Boost Democracy and Press
Freedom
- Free Journalism a Key to Development
- Fundamental Rights as Well as Trade Deals
- Global Controls Needed Over Corporate Power
Journalists around the world today warn that unless there is a new
global commitment to press freedom and democracy, the lofty aims of the
Johannesburg World Summit 2002 on Sustainable Development, which takes
place from August 26 tol September 4, will never be achieved.
"The grand design of the organisers to save the environment and
eradicate poverty will not be realised unless there is a commitment to
involve all citizens - including the worlds poorest people - in the
debate about change," says the International Federation of Journalists,
the world's largest journalists' group, in a statement.
"Human rights, democracy and freedom of expression are not on the
margins of the discussion about sustainable development," says the IFJ.
"People must be free to speak their minds and they must have access to
the information they need to make decisions about the future."
But the IFJ says that in many regions where the toughest challenges
exist, media are not free, human rights are routinely violated and
journalism is a perilous and high-risk profession.
"There are great fears that the Johannesburg summit will be a gigantic
talking shop," says the IFJ. "If it means business, it must confront the
crisis of democracy and human rights around the world and ensure that
the campaigns for sustainable development, poverty reduction and
environmental protection go hand in hand with building democratic and
pluralist societies."
The IFJ warns against the Johannesburg agenda being hijacked by free
market interests. "In the era of free markets there are ever larger and
more powerful global corporations," says the IFJ, "and valid questions
are being raised about how these great institutions are run, who
controls them, and to whom they are accountable."
The IFJ says the crisis of confidence caused by recent corporate
scandals is only one dimension of the failure to monitor transnational
companies that are driving the process of trade globalisation.
"It is not enough to call for higher accounting standards and a
crackdown on corporate misrepresentation, there is an urgent need to
tackle the palpable failure of companies to meet their responsibilities
to employees, the environment and the local communities around them."
The IFJ supports calls from Global Unions worldwide for new
international mechanisms to make global corporations - including
individual business leaders - more accountable. "Influencing the
corporate agenda is essential when private companies are gaining ever
greater control over essential public goods and services," says the IFJ.
French company Vivendi, for example, is one of the world's largest media
companies and it is also supplying water - the most essential of all
public goods - to 110 million people around the world. "Vivendi is a
company with a troubled past and present," says the IFJ, citing the fact
that it has been implicated in bribery scandals and that its Puerto Rico
subsidiary has been fined more than $6 million for various violations of
environmental laws.
"The time has come for the creation of a culture of corporate
citizenship, which would require company directors to consider the
effects of their actions on the environment, on human rights, on local
communities and on their workforce," says the IFJ.
"We need new global institutions to defend rights, to promote
development and democracy and to rein in the power of the unelected
corporate elite that dominates world trade," says the IFJ.
"Johannesburg creates an unprecedented opportunity for collaboration and
cross-fertilisation of experience and aspiration at a practical level,"
says the IFJ, "but if governments who deny people their fundamental
rights are not challenged and if global corporations are not reined in,
then it will be an opportunity missed."
The International Federation of Journalists is the world's largest
journalists' group, representing around 500,000 journalists worldwide.
APPENDIX
International Federation of Journalists
Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development, 26 August - 4
September 2002
Journalists around the world believe the Johannesburg World Summit 2002
on sustainable development provides an unprecedented opportunity for
change, but the lofty aims of the summit will never be achieved unless
there is a new global commitment to press freedom and democracy.
The grand design of the organisers to save the environment and eradicate
poverty will not be realised unless there is a commitment to involving
all citizens - including the world's poorest people - in the debate
about change. The media agenda must be pluralist and not dominated by
the commercial interests of global corporations.
Human rights, democracy and freedom of expression are not on the margins
of the struggle for sustainable development. People must be free to
speak their minds. They must have access to the information they need to
make decisions about the future. These questions are important to the
definition and construction of a decent society, as is the need for
affordable, equitable and high-quality public services such as
people-centred systems of public broadcasting.
In many regions where the toughest challenges exist - Africa, Latin
America and the populous countries of Asia - media are not free and
journalism is a perilous and high-risk profession. Sustainable
development cannot be achieved when people live in the shadow of
ignorance, corruption and fear.
Many journalists fear that the Johannesburg summit will be a gigantic
talking shop. If it means business, it must confront the crisis of
democracy and human rights and ensure that the campaigns for sustainable
development, poverty reduction and environmental protection go hand in
hand with building democratic and pluralist societies. Press freedom and
pluralism must be made priorities for action.
A second threat to the success of the summit lies in the battle of ideas
on the future of world trade. It will be a global tragedy if the
Johannesburg agenda is hijacked by free market interests. In the era of
free markets there are ever larger and more powerful global corporations
and valid questions are being raised about how these great institutions
are run, who controls them, and to whom they are accountable.
The crisis of confidence caused by recent corporate scandals is only one
dimension of the failure to monitor transnational companies that are
driving the process of trade globalisation.
It is not enough to call for higher accounting standards and a crackdown
on corporate misrepresentation; there is an urgent need to tackle the
palpable failure of companies to meet their responsibilities to
employees, the environment and the local communities around them.
The IFJ supports calls from Global Unions worldwide for new
international mechanisms to make global corporations - including media
companies - more accountable. Influencing the corporate agenda is
essential in an era when private companies, including those with
substantial media interests, are gaining ever-greater control over
essential public goods and services.
French company Vivendi, for example, is one of the worlds largest media
companies and is also supplying water - the most essential of all public
goods - to 110 million people around the world. It is a company with a
troubled past and present.
The IFJ notes media reports that in 2001 a senior Vivendi manager was
convicted of bribery in Italy, having paid the president of Milan city
council for contracts, and in 1997, French Minister Jean Michel
Boucheron was convicted of taking bribes from Companie Generale de Eaux
(the predecessor of Vivendi). Additionally, Vivendi has been reportedly
challenged over its environmental performance in poorer regions. For
example, The Puerto Rico Aqueducts and Sewers Authority's water supply
and sanitation services were privatised to Vivendi's Compania de Agua in
1995. Since then the company has been the subject of two highly critical
reports by the Puerto Rico Office of the Comptroller and has been fined
a total of more than $6 million for various violations of environmental
laws.
Companies who play fast and loose with investors and the political
process also neglect their responsibilities to the environment and to
their staff. A solution to the problem of corporate governance must be
found and this must include new duties on directors and company
officers.
The time has come for the creation of a culture of corporate
citizenship, which would require company directors to consider the
effects of their actions on the environment, on human rights, on local
communities and on their workforce.
We need new global institutions to defend rights, to promote development
and democracy and to rein in the power of the unelected corporate elite
that dominates world trade.
Johannesburg creates an unprecedented opportunity for collaboration and
cross-fertilisation of experience and aspiration at a practical level,
but if governments who deny people their fundamental rights are not
challenged and if global corporations are not reined in, then it will be
an opportunity missed.
Brussels, August 19th 2002