Regional fora, meetings mark CMFR commemoration of Ampatuan Massacre Anniversary
The Manila-based Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) is holding “The Journalism Asia Forum 2010 (JAF) – Impunity and Press Freedom” on November 23 to mark the first year anniversary of the Ampatuan (Maguindanao) massacre, in which fifty-eight people including 32 journalists and media workers were murdered in the Maguindanao province.
The Journalism Asia forum will be held in Manila, Philippines. The forum generates the contents of the annual Journalism Asia (JA) publication, which focuses on press and media issues and performance in the region and is published by CMFR for journalists in Asia. CMFR is organizing the forum in cooperation with the Bangkok-based Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA).
The theme of JA 2010 is “Impunity and Press Freedom”. “Impunity” refers to the failure to identify, prosecute and penalize the killers of journalists as well as political activists which has encouraged the killings to continue.
One hundred eighteen journalists and media practitioners have been killed in the line of duty in the Philippines since 1986. Seventy-nine happened during the Arroyo administration including the Ampatuan (Maguindanao) Massacre. In Southeast Asia, a total of 246 alerts on attacks on journalists were posted from 2009 to 2010, indicating the fragile state of press independence and practice even in those countries where the laws protect press freedom.
The 2010 JA forum is the fifth organized by CMFR since 2001. JA had published the papers and other related materials generated in JA forums to further the exchange of ideas and experiences among the larger ASEAN press community and interested civil society organizations, government agencies and the academe.
Forum participants will join the torch parade and short program in Mendiola, Manila which will culminate the commemoration activities in connection with the first anniversary of the November 23, 2009 Ampatuan Massacre.
In the evening of November 22, the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists Inc. (FFFJ), represented by its secretariat, the CMFR, with the cooperation of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (UP-CMC), will also announce the winners in the multimedia competition to commemorate the Massacre.
The 2010 Multimedia Competition is intended to encourage and enhance public awareness of the killing of journalists and the culture of impunity. Over 70 college and university students participated in the contest.
The competition has three categories: a poster category, a 30 to 60 second radio plug category, and a 30 to 60 second short video category. A total of P 120,000 in cash prizes and certificates of recognition await the winners.
The FFFJ is a coalition of media and journalists groups founded in 2003 to address the killing of journalists. It provides legal and other assistance to the survivors of slain journalists, including scholarships for their children.
A regular meeting of the SEAPA board of trustees will also be held in Manila on November 22.
Established in November 1998, SEAPA aims to unite independent journalists’ and press-related organizations in the region into a force for advocacy and mutual protection. CMFR is a founding member-organization of SEAPA.
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