🚀 go-pugleaf

------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date:          Wed, 30 Apr 1997 15:55:59 -0400 (EDT)
From:          ifex@web.net (IFEX)
To:            pressrelease@web.net
Subject:       IFJ-organised conference (press release)


IFEX- News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

PRESS RELEASE - WORLD

30 April 1997

IFJ organises international conference on journalism and racism

SOURCE: International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Brussels

(IFJ/IFEX) - Journalists' leaders, media experts and leading
political and community figures from 70 countries will attend the
"Prime Time for Tolerance: Journalism and the Challenge of
Racism" conference, which opens in Bilbao, Spain on 2 May. The
conference is organised by the International Federation of
Journalists (IFJ).

The keynote opening speaker will be Belfast-born teacher and
author Brian Keenan who spent five years as a hostage in Beirut
and whose acclaimed book "An Evil Cradling" is a sensitive
evocation of time spent with journalists and others in the hands
of terrorists. Keenan's address will focus on the role of the
observer in a world of conflict and intolerance.

Also speaking will be 1996 Nobel Peace Prize-winner Ramon Horta,
a world-renowned campaigner for East Timor.

The conference takes place over World Press Freedom Day, 3 May,
when the first Press Freedom Award sponsored by UNESCO will be
presented to jailed Chinese journalist Gao Yu. The Director
General of UNESCO Federico Mayor will, along with Jose Antonio
Ardanza, President of the Basque Country, address the conference.

Themes of the conference will be:

-European Year Against Racism, with keynote addresses by European
Union Commissioner Padraig Flynn and Deputy General Secretary of
the Council of Europe Peter Leuprecht.

-Media responsibility for the Bosnia War, with Sarajevo editor
Mehmet Halilovic and leading journalists from Croatia and Serbia.

-Writers, Publishers and the Struggle for Tolerance, with leading
writers Bernardo Atxaga, Carlos Chamorro from Nicaragua, and
Ireland's Alan Crosbie, President of the European Publishers
Association.

-Should Journalists Testify? A debate on media and war crimes
with award-winning correspondents from Europe and Africa and a
keynote address by Ed Vulliamy, who gave evidence to the
international tribunal at The Hague.

-Setting the Limits: Journalists from South Africa, Palestine,
Zimbabwe and Belgium look at the democratic dilemma, the defence
of human rights and limits on freedom of expression.

-Media and Asian Values: Perspectives on Indonesia, from banned
editor Goneawan Mohamed and journalists' leader Iksak Santoso,
plus the view from Hong Kong from leading journalist Daisy Li.

-Media and Terrorism: Journalists in the firing line, from
Algeria, Spain and Ireland, India and Sri Lanka.

-Media and the Community: journalists and community leaders from
the United States of America, Brazil, Colombia and Great Britain
examine contemporary forms of racism and media -- do they make it
better or worse?

-Future Perspectives: Journalists' leaders from Russia, India,
Brazil and France consider the challenge for the media in the
campaign against racism and intolerance.

Says IFJ President Jens Linde: "The changed global political
scene is leading to fragmentation of communities and increasing
social conflict. Journalists are not idle bystanders in this
process -- we have seen that in Bosnia and Rwanda.

"It is time for [the] media to face up to the challenge of racism
and intolerance. But that does not mean we have to sacrifice our
freedoms. In fact, the challenge is to reinforce professionalism,
to eliminate censorship and propaganda and to build greater
public confidence in [the] media. These are the aims of the Prime
Time conference."

For further information and to arrange interviews, contact Cailin
Mackenzie on +32 2 223 22 65 until 30 April and on + 34 4 427
7200 ext  2124  from 1-5 May.

The Conference Website, in operation from from 2 May, can be
found at: http://www.ifj.org/issues/racism/bilbao

For further information, contact the IFJ, Rue Royale, 266, B-1210
Brussels, Belgium , tel: +322 223 2265 or +322 219 7780, fax:
+322 219 2976, e-mail: ifj@eunet.be, Internet:
http://www.ifj.org/

The information contained in this press release is the sole
responsibility of IFJ. In citing this material for broadcast or
publication, please credit IFJ.
_________________________________________________________________
 DISTRIBUTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION EXCHANGE
 (IFEX) CLEARING HOUSE
 490 Adelaide St.W., suite 205, Toronto (ON) M5V 2T1 CANADA
 tel: +1 416 703 1638, fax: +1 416 703 7034
 e-mail: ifex@web.net, Internet site: http://www.ifex.org/
_________________________________________________________________



___________________________________________________
Bruce Girard             Agencia Informativa Pulsar
Email: bgirard@pulsar.org.ec
http://www.web.net/amarc/pulsar.html
Fono/Fax: +593-2-501180
Fax en Montreal, Canada: +1-514-221-2009
Av. Atahualpa 333, Casilla 17-08-8489, Quito, Ecuador