items of interest

with contributions from Haroon Habib, Kathrin Chavez, Brandon Ferguson

"The 'Third South Asian Free Media Conference,' which concluded [May 28, 2003], adopted a declaration emphasizing the need for achieving democratic order and realizing the responsibility of media persons to struggle collectively for democracy and freedom of expression. ... [The declaration] observed that an 'established tradition of press freedom [in India] is being threatened by a growing criminalization of politics and abuse of judicial practices. These factors weaken India's pluralistic civil society, ... sapping the foundations of democracy itself.' ...

"The conference, attended by about 100 media delegates from all over South Asia, resolved to 'uphold, collectively and individually, the system of multi-party, participatory democracy, freedom of expression, gender equality, and rights of minorities.' It also resolved to 'strive for peace in South Asia and ensure the diversion of resources from wasteful acquisition of arms to public interest projects.'

"The media professionals also vowed to discourage hate teaching, distortion of national characters, cultural chauvinism, racism, casteism, and exploitation of the poor and the marginalized. ... The conference—whose theme was 'media and democracy'—also pledged to resist authoritarianism and religious extremism in any form and promote the media's function as the foremost school of good citizenship. Among others, it would promote regional media understanding and foster professionalism and transparency in the media."

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