IPI General Assembly passes resolutions on debate-filled Second day of World Congress

Members of the International Press Institute on Monday unanimously passed 10 press freedom-related resolutions, during the global press freedom organisation’s 59th General Assembly in Vienna, Austria.

The resolutions covered: a call for the release of journalists in Iran; a call on the Ukrainian authorities to end impunity and allow independent television stations to operate; a call on Zambia to relinquish control of the media; the deterioration in Rwanda media freedom; a call on the Turkish authorities to release all imprisoned journalists; media censorship and oppression in Fiji; constitutional amendments and media repression in Sri Lanka; Cuban blogger and PI World Press Freedom Hero Yoani Sanchez; legislative developments in South Africa; and a deterioration in the press freedom climate of Europe.

In other news from Day Two of the World Congress, a panel on "Breaking News" discussed the Internet’s ability to provide correct information. The Internet is only "a vehicle for the delivery" of information, said panelist Harold Evans, former editor of The Times, adding that it is still up to journalists to conduct research.

Shortly thereafter "IPI Report: Brave News Worlds" was presented by its Editor in Chief, Bill Mitchell of the US-based Poynter Institute. "Increasing collaboration, hybrid business models, and the reinvigoration of investigative reporting, these are all very promising developments," Mitchell said.

The final session for the day, "Media Ethics in the New Media Landscape," related to the ability to apply traditional journalistic codes of ethics to online journalism. "We have to have as much self-regulation as we possibly can but we have to be honest: it is never going to cure every illness," said Guy Black, Executive Director, Telegraph Media Group in the UK.