Bangkok Declaration

Bangkok Declaration
Asia Media Forum
Bangkok, December 17-19, 2006

This declaration was drafted in a conference sponsored by the Asia Media Forum in Bangkok, Thailand, on Dec. 17-19, 2006.  The event was attended by journalists and journalism educators from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, the People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, and the Philippines.
With the theme, “Media Mediation: Media, People and Governance,” the conference explored ways of making governments more accountable to the public.
The discussions also deliberated on the accountability of media, the need for media education and democratization, and the political and economic interests that can affect the functioning of media.

We, the participants of Asia Media Forum held in Bangkok, Thailand (17-19 December 2006), do hereby:

1)     Recall the Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media, and regardless of frontiers;”

2)     Stand for human dignity, human rights, gender equity, social justice, equitable economic progress and a participatory and democratic polity;

3)    Recall the United Nations Millennium Declaration that sets out a human rights-based approach to development, in which participation and transparency in decision-making, empowerment and accountability play a key role;

4)     Emphasize that Asian media has a crucial role to play in promoting key elements of just, democratic and accountable governance including the rule of law; and believe that independent and pluralistic media is important to ensure transparency and wider participation of the people in decision-making processes to achieve the goals of human development and poverty reduction;

5)     Emphasize that solidarity with and cooperation among Asian media and journalists will promote better understanding, interaction and closer cooperation among Asian countries and their peoples; and will articulate shared visions and raise professional standards;

6)     Strive to empower journalists to resist censorship in all forms;

7)     Support greater participation of women and diverse voices in media.

We do hereby unanimously call upon Asian journalists, media practitioners, outlets and associations:

a) To commit to the highest standards of professional ethics, media freedom and media education;

b) To put in place mechanisms, sufficient resources and personnel to promote professional journalism, first-hand news gathering and to investigate stories;

c) To commit to raise public awareness and understanding about corruption, human rights violations, other abuses of power and to increase space in media to highlight democratic deficits and issues affecting the excluded and marginalized people comprising a large section of society;

d) To report fairly and professionally on conflict situations within the region;

e) To build a platform for interaction, shared learning and inter-regional cooperation to promote ethical, substantive, inclusive and non-discriminatory media in the region;

f) To create a space for exchange of ideas, news, information and views on democracy, development and human rights;

g) To strive for providing safety for journalists and to hold respective governments and media organiza-tions responsible for the safety of journalists and to end the culture of impunity which encourages murder, intimidation, harassment and other attacks on journalists;

j) To strive to create an environment where media messages are shaped as per needs of the people rather than catering to the needs of commercialism;

k) To strive for greater freedom of movement for journalists across Asia.

Bangkok, December 19, 2006

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