HUMANATARIAN URGES BY THE MONTHLY MUKTIDOOTH

Internews Establishes Emergency Media Fund for Disasters and Conflicts
MacArthur Foundation Challenge Grant Enables Local Media to Provide Lifesaving Information in Emergencies

(February 10, 2009) With a three-year, $500,000 challenge grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Internews Network has established a fund to enable local media to provide vital news and information to survivors of humanitarian disasters and other crises.

“Internews’ global reach and experience make it possible for us to respond immediately in emergency situations,” said David Hoffman, President of Internews Network. “With the generous and far-sighted support of the MacArthur Foundation, we will be able to help more people more effectively by providing the timely and accurate information that is so essential during a disaster.”

The grant seeds Internews’ new fund for emergency media, allowing local, independent media in crisis zones to play a key role in disasters. This includes immediately disseminating vital humanitarian information to affected populations and providing a two-way channel of communication between relief organizations and those they are trying to help. Donations to the fund will be matched dollar for dollar by the MacArthur grant.

Established at the beginning of the year, the fund has already launched its first crisis response. Starting on January 9, during the height of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Internews became the first and only international media organization to organize the broadcast of vital information on distribution of food and blankets, safe havens, road closures and other humanitarian news to the people of Gaza. Produced by a team of Palestinian journalists, the special broadcasts air on three independent West Bank radio stations as well as one Gaza station.

Internews has considerable experience mobilizing local media to play a lifesaving role in disasters and emergencies. Internews has responded to the 2004 Asia tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, the ongoing Darfur refugee crisis, and the 2008 post-election violence in Kenya, among other crises. Yet these efforts have been ad hoc, undertaken only as funding could be raised. The MacArthur grant will enable Internews to respond more quickly and comprehensively.

“MacArthur has long provided support to ensure a diversity of voices and expand the availability of high-quality content, both at home and abroad,” said Elspeth Revere, Vice President of General Programs at the MacArthur Foundation. “Internews Network is well-positioned to ensure the free flow of information across the globe.”

Internews Network is an international non-profit organization that empowers local media worldwide to serve the information needs of their communities. The organization has worked in over 70 countries and trained over 70,000 people in media skills. Together with local partners, Internews’ activities include establishing and supporting media outlets, journalist associations, and broadcast networks. Internews also has specialized programs to improve reporting on the environment, humanitarian crises, public health and women’s issues.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. In addition to selecting the MacArthur Fellows, the Foundation works to defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places, and understand how technology is affecting children and society.

For more information, contact JoAnne Sullivan Woolley, 202-833-5740 ext. 208

(Source:Internews)

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Source: Airline Ambassadors International

Contact: Nancy Rivard + 1 415-359-8006 www.airlineamb.org

NEW BREAST CANCER STAMP HELPS EL SALVADOR

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (February 13, 2009) - People suffering from breast cancer, as well as organizations fighting to curb the spread of the disease, will benefit from a postage stamp inaugurated this month in El Salvador.

The initiative was launched by the Cure Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Airline Ambassadors International, and the First Lady of El Salvador, Ana Ligia de Saca.

"Tragically, some 1.3 million women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and about half a million people around the world will die from this scourge in 2009," said Nancy Rivard, President of Airline Ambassadors International, who added, "we only wish we could do more."

The issue of the Breast Cancer Research Stamp (BCRS) in El Salvador uses the artwork of the U.S. Postal Service original.

Dr. Ernie Bodai, a cancer specialist who headed oncological surgery departments at major U.S. Hospitals, set up the BCRS in the United States in 1998 - the first fund-raising stamp issued by the United States Postal Service, the profits of which go to US Government research funds trying to find a cure for breast cancer.

"Since its inception in the United States of America, the stamp has raised over US $70 million through the sales of some 900 million stamps," reported Dr. Bodai.

The benefits of the innovative philatelic initiative have now spread beyond breast cancer.

Dr. Bodai, in a message read by the Patricia McPeak, Chairman of Airline Ambassadors International, said the funds had enabled researchers not only to record advances in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, but also to make important discoveries with "applicability to ovarian and colon cancer as well."

"Hundreds of research projects have been funded with these dollars and tremendous strides have been made," stated McPeak at the stamp launching ceremony in the presence of the First Lady of El Salvador.

Lelei LeLaulu, an international development adviser and board member of Counterpart Caribbean, lauded the initiative which he hoped would be replicated in other Latin American and Caribbean countries: "Philatelic philanthropy is making an important impression in the fight against this dreadful disease and we should all make a point of buying these beautiful stamps, and by so doing, contribute to the saving of lives."

ENDS

(Source:Bevan Springer)

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Media News - Friday, February 13, 2009
China to introduce journalist “black list”


China's news censors will create a new "black list" to force out reporters found breaking rules, an official news agency said on Friday, adding to the wary government's tools for media control. Li Dongdong, a deputy chief of the General Administration of Press and Publication, told officials that proposed strengthened regulations for Chinese journalists would include a "full database of people who engage in unhealthy professional conduct", the China News Service reported. "People entered into the transgressor list will be excluded from engaging in news reporting and editing work," the report said, citing Li. She said stricter controls being drafted by the agency were needed to "resolutely halt fake news". But a critic said the ruling Communist Party's real target was probably combative reporters and editors who buck its propaganda controls. "A database for this kind of thing would be a new thing," said Li Datong, a former editor at the official China Youth Daily who was shunted out of his job for criticising censorship. "This fighting fake news is a cloak. You can call all sorts of news fake," he said. "There really is a problem with fake reporting and reporters, but there are already plenty of ways to deal with that." (Reuters)

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Media News - Friday, February 13, 2009
UAE president suspends implementation of worrying media law, panel to study bill



The president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifah Bin Zayid Al-Nahyan, has suspended implementation of a media law which was adopted last month by the National Council, described by press freedom groups as worrying. The president intends to set up a special commission to carry out an exhaustive study of the law, taking account of opinion in the UAE, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. The changes in several of the bill’s articles since it was last examined by ministers in June 2008 increased RSF's concern about press freedom in the UAE. For example, the highest proposed fines used to be AED 200,000 (EUR 42,000). But article 31 proposed a fine of AED 1m (EUR 212,000) for anyone who insults the president, vice-president or a member of the Supreme Council of Rulers through the news media or a licensed publication. In article 27, it was said for the first time that cities located in the UAE’s free zones must also obey the press laws and the rules established by the National Media Council, which has the power to suspend the activity of certain media outlets for an indefinite period (article 36). These zones were not concerned before the bill was redrafted. The bill to amend the press law was submitted to the government for the first time in November 2007. While RSF welcomed the proposed decriminalisation of press offences, the main problem for free expression continued to be the self-censorship practised by most of the country’s newspapers. To avoid lawsuits, the media usually refrain from any comment or criticism that could be interpreted as harming the government’s image. (RSF via Newswatch India)

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