MAN collaborates with PMA to sensitize journalists on self-regulation and conflict sensitive reporting
KATHMANDU: Expanding its international network to promote free and accountable media, Media Action Nepal (MAN) has joined hands with the UK-based Public Media Alliance (PMA) to sensitize journalists on self-regulation and conflict sensitive reporting through “Code of Ethics to Improve Conflict Sensitive Reporting and Safety of Journalists in South Asia” project.
Stating that the partnership with MAN provides an opportunity to collaborate with an organization that has a wealth of knowledge, on the ground experience, and passion for media freedom and the safety of journalists, on March 9, PMA announced, “MAN is expected to play a pivotal role in our project, which aims to contribute towards strengthening the South Asian media environment in terms of conflict sensitive reporting, journalist safety, and self-regulation.”
The project is being implemented with support from the UNESCO New Delhi Office and the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC). The project components include mapping exercise and research, South Asian level capacity building workshop; and the production of a publication.
The capacity building workshop – which will take place in Nepal in September 2021 – will engage a total of 28 working journalists and members of media organizations covering Bangladesh, India, Nepal, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka.
The training workshop will be facilitated by internationally recognized media researchers and trainers Dr. Sadia Jamil, Acting Chair at JRE Section of the International Association of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) and Mr. Laxman Datt Pant, Chairperson of MAN.
Underscoring that the quality of our lives depends not on whether or not we have conflicts, but on how we respond to them, Dr Jamil said of the initiative, “Herald peace with a sense of ethics to practice no harm, to end the plague of information war, and by simply saying no to being part of a conflict discourse.” Make the difference to hold the public trust on professional journalism and rejuvenate the legitimacy of media, she added.
Highlighting that the new partnership between PMA and MAN, to deliver a UNESCO IPDC project titled Code of Ethics to improve Conflict-Sensitive Reporting and Safety of Journalists, is a timely intervention in strengthening the South Asian media environment in terms of regulation and conflict sensitive reporting, Mr. Pant said, “In addition to strengthening knowledge of South Asian journalists on issues of media ethics, conflict sensitivity and safety of journalists, this initiative will undoubtedly help journalists to remain more watchful to the wrongdoings of power centres, to be more accountable and accurate towards the content the former creates.”