The IFJ Executive Committee recalls with sadness that in many wars, it has become a painful reality that government-controlled media often becomes advocates for the war – it happened in the ethnic conflict in Yugoslavia as it did in the second Gulf war where some Western media abandon all pretence at objectivity and become cheerleaders for military forces.
There are plenty of other cases
IFJ ExCom notes that in all these instances ethical journalists struggled to avoid stereotypes and propaganda and to portray events and people in an informed context, avoiding conflict of patriotism versus professionalism, and carefully spun information oiled by spin doctors, carefully filtered and drip-fed to journalists.
IFJ ExCom equally recalls that following the Ukrainian-Russian conflict in 2014 leading to the annexation of the Crimea, the IFJ and EFJ pursued relentlessly a massive effort in conjunction with OSCE to create conditions for our unions on opposite sides of the divide to get engaged in an honest dialogue in order to develop joint strategies for professional co-operation and protection of the rights of journalists in their respective countries. Our unions then agreed that open dialogue between journalists and professional organisations is an essential condition for overcoming misunderstanding, and resist the use of journalists for propaganda purposes, turning journalists into participants in information warfare.
IFJ ExCom reiterates its historical commitment to journalists’ professional objectives, professional standards and ethical principles of the profession and renew our commitment to solidarity between journalists. We are implacably opposed to propagandist’s desire to drive a wedge between journalists of our countries and turn them into a tool of manipulation. We will continue to promote co-operation between journalists, publishers and media professionals.
IFJ ExCom once again expresses its full support for the massive effort by our two unions in the Ukraine – the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine and the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine – to represent and protect their members since Russia invaded their country. We reaffirm the full support we are fully committed to, as expressed since the beginning of the war on 24 February 2022.
IFJ ExCom equally recognises that its affiliate in the Russian Federation, the Russian Union of Journalists, has legitimate claims to defend its journalists who live and work in Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and other cities, many of whom have been impacted by the war, some killed and injured. The IFJ believes that such journalists should be supported in the same way it protects journalists under attack all over the world, but setting up branches in annexed provinces will be rightly construed as taking position in support of the invasion of the Ukraine.
IFJ ExCom believes that it should express an opinion on the way its affiliates choose to structure themselves only in exceptional circumstances. In this case, it condemns steps taken by the RUJ to set up branches in these regions as the only mechanism necessary to deliver the humanitarian help needed by these journalists.
IFJ ExCom congratulates its General Secretary for his effort to try and establish the facts and supports his request to the RUJ that they must reconsider this decision.
IFJ ExCom agrees to trigger Clause 16 of the IFJ Constitution and instructs the GS to organize a proper investigation and to report its findings to the next ExCom.
At the same time, a special effort should be made to seek to establish ways of delivering solidarity in these regions where journalists are most in need.
Finally, IFJ ExCom recognises that solidarity of journalists is the glue that bind us together, in particular at times of conflicts. It instructs the AdCom, despite the acute conditions resulting from the war, to look at ways of restarting dialogue between our affiliates from both sides on the challenges and mechanisms of propaganda, on promoting ethics of journalism and on confidence-building measures designed to bridge the gap between them and ensure mutual respect.