Journalists worldwide should strive for press freedom and decent working conditions at a time when their safety has become a major issue, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
After the international press freedom group Reporters Without Borders established its first Asia office in Taiwan last year, the IFJ — which represents about 600,000 journalists from countries where it has member unions — is holding its executive committee meeting and annual general meeting today and tomorrow in Taipei.
During the two-day meetings, reporters and union representatives from more than 20 countries are to address press freedom and safety issues.
Press freedom — the primary right of journalists — is much larger than on a political level, for it is also related to the working conditions of journalists, federation president Philippe Leruth said, adding that media ownership is another threat.
While press freedom is respected in Taiwan, journalists in many other countries have to worry about their safety at work and it is a “scandal” that many murderers of journalists around the world remain unpunished, he said.
Asked about the impact of social media on traditional media, Leruth said that at a time when anyone on the Internet can claim to be a journalist, professional journalists should make a difference by publishing fact-checked information and convince people that “information has a price.”
To improve their working conditions, journalists should join forces in their country and make their union stronger, he said, in response to media questions.
Federation vice president Sabina Inderjit said that younger reporters should regard their work as a form of “public service” and social responsibility, instead of just a business operation as most people might think.
While press freedom is a lesser problem in Taiwan, local journalists should guard against improper foreign influence, as a “free market is not always free,” Association of Taiwan Journalists general secretary Ian Chen (陳益能) said.
A total lunar eclipse coinciding with the Lantern Festival on March 3 would be Taiwan’s most notable celestial event this year, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said, urging skywatchers not to miss it. There would be four eclipses worldwide this year — two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses — the museum’s Web site says. Taiwan would be able to observe one of the lunar eclipses in its entirety on March 3. The eclipse would be visible as the moon rises at 5:50pm, already partly shaded by the Earth’s shadow, the museum said. It would peak at about 7:30pm, when the moon would
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday held a ceremony marking the delivery of its 11th Anping-class offshore patrol vessel Lanyu (蘭嶼艦), saying it would boost Taiwan’s ability to respond to Beijing’s “gray zone” tactics. Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Chung-Lung (張忠龍) presided over the CGA event in the Port of Kaoshiung. Representatives of the National Security Council also attended the event. Designed for long-range and protracted patrol operations at sea, the Lanyu is a 65.4m-long and 14.8m-wide ship with a top speed of 44 knots (81.5kph) and a cruising range of 2,000 nautical miles (3704km). The vessel is equipped with a
DEFENSE: The US should cancel the US visas or green cards of relatives of KMT and TPP lawmakers who have been blocking the budget, Grant Newsham said A retired US Marine Corps officer has suggested canceling the US green cards and visas of relatives of opposition Taiwanese lawmakers who have been stalling the review of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.7 billion) special defense budget. The Executive Yuan has proposed the budget for major weapons purchases over eight years, from this year to 2033. However, opposition lawmakers have refused to review the proposal, demanding that President William Lai (賴清德) first appear before the Legislative Yuan to answer questions about the proposed budget. On Thursday last week, 37 bipartisan US lawmakers sent a letter to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the heads
Two siblings in their 70s were injured yesterday when they opened a parcel and it exploded, police in Yilan said, adding the brother and sister were both in stable condition. The two siblings, surnamed Hung (洪), had received the parcel two days earlier but did not open it until yesterday, the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday in Taiwan, police said. Chen Chin-cheng (陳金城), head of the Yilan County Government Police Bureau, said the package bore no postmark or names and was labeled only with the siblings’ address. Citing the findings of a
RSS