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In message to Asian media summit, Annan urges respect for press freedom

In message to Asian media summit, Annan urges respect for press freedom

Secretary-General Kofi Annan
In a message to participants at an Asian media summit in Malaysia, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged governments to reaffirm their commitment to press freedom while calling on media professionals to exercise their rights responsibly.

He noted that new technologies and new ways of distributing content, such as blogs, have made information more accessible than ever before. “But as media and journalism evolve, certain bedrock principles remain paramount,” he emphasized, citing the right to “seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers,” enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“I declare my firm support for this right, and urge all governments to reaffirm their commitment to it as well,” the Secretary-General said in his message to the Asia Media Summit meeting in Kuala Lumpur. The message was delivered by Kim Hak-su, Executive Secretary of the Bangkok-based UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

“At the same time, I appeal to everyone to exercise that right responsibly and, where possible, proactively,” he added, stressing that media should not be vehicles for incitement or degradation, or for spreading hatred.

The Secretary-General also deplored the fact that members of the press continue to be killed, maimed, detained or targeted in other ways for exercising their rights. “This is tragic and unacceptable,” he said, urging all concerned to exert efforts to enable the press to do its work.