UN Should Become More Transparent & Even-Handed on Answers, Press Encounters, Reporting & Deference to Different States, FUNCA Says

July 5, 2014 -- With the top spot in the UN Department of Public Information not yet filled, but input yet to be sought from journalists who cover the UN, it’s a time to revisit the basics including the minimum that the press and public should be able to expect from the UN. The Office of the Spokesperson shouldn’t give false or misleading information, and if it has, it should correct it, including directly to the journalist(s) to which the false or misleading information was given. Recently, read more [...]

FUNCA Points Out Need for UN to Take Input from Press & Public, Protests Lockouts, Eviction of News Agency of Nigeria

If the UN is supposed to be accountable to “we the peoples” and to all 193 member states equally, why was the News Agency of Nigeria thrown out of its work space at the UN? The Free UN Coalition for Access raised this question at the UN's June 4 noon briefing, but no explanation was given. Video here. So FUNCA has asked both MALU and the top of the Department of Public Information. Among the questions: are all media treated fairly? As the New York Civil Liberties Union asked the UN - the current read more [...]

When Ambassador to the UN Tells Correspondent “You Are Not A Journalist,” FUNCA Objects, And To Privatized Access

Is it acceptable, in the UN Press Briefing Room, for the Permanent Representative of a P5 Security Council member to cut off a correspondent's critical question and say, "You are not a journalist, you are an agent," as French Ambassador Gerard Araud did on April 15? Video here. The Free UN Coalition for Access says no. On April 16, UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric was asked to convey the generic principle that correspondents should be respected to the French Mission to the UN. He declined. Video read more [...]

Shouldn’t Journalists Have Some Input Into Top DPI Posts? Shouldn’t Questions Be Answered?

The UN's News & Media Division runs not only Media Accreditation but also interfaces with media in getting out the raw materials of UN coverage: UNTV video, for example, and the UN News Centre sites, which vary markedly from language to language. And the day after Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on February 19 announced that the head of the News & Media Division would switch over and become his spokesperson, the Free UN Coalition for Access asked what seemed to be an obvious question: would read more [...]

In 2014, FUNCA Calls for SG Read-Outs, UN Answers, Equal & Increasing Access for All

As 2014 began, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the president of South Korea, whose office then gave the media a read-out. But the UN, even when asked on January 2, refused to give a read-out, telling the press, "we don’t put out readouts of all the calls.  I can confirm that this is a phone call that took place between the Secretary-General and the President of the Republic of Korea.  But no, there’s no readout of that call." The Free UN Coalition for Access says read-outs of Secretary read more [...]