Development and Human Rights – What Can the Media Do?

By Jeff Trimble, Executive Director, U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors

Jeffrey N. Trimble (Executive Director, US Broadcasting Board of Governors)

Good morning.  I would like to thank Deutsche Welle and all the co-host and sponsoring organizations for this outstanding event devoted to such an important topic. I’d especially like to acknowledge Deutsche Welle Director Erik Bettermann, and to use this opportunity to express again the commitment of U.S. international broadcasting to continue to deepen cooperation with our fellow broadcasters under the umbrella of the so-called DG 5, the Directors’ General 5 – in addition to Deutsche Welle and U.S. international broadcasting, this includes France’s AEF, the BBC, and Radio Netherlands. We greatly value our partnership with you all. In fact, just next week in Nigeria, we are jointly sponsoring a conference with AEF devoted to the subject of journalism and development.

As we speak about human rights, it is especially appropriate to take note of the passing this weekend of Yelena Bonner – a fierce, determined defender of human rights in the Soviet Union and Russia and the entire world throughout her entire, difficult life. Getting to know her, her husband Andrei Sakharov, and reporting their activities to bring change in the Soviet Union was a highlight of my time as a correspondent in Moscow.

Which gets me right to a few brief comments, after which I’ll look forward to discussion.  I’ll make four points about the intersection of journalism, human rights and development. The first two are about the role of journalists; the second two are about ensuring that we can do our jobs and deliver our content.

Journalism is not about supporting the status quo; nor or journalists, by temperament or training, inclined to leave things the way they are.  It is the role of journalists to shine a bright light on the abuse of human rights, wherever these abuses take place. At the same time, journalists must devote substantive coverage to success stories about combating or rectifying abuse – instances and best practices utilized to resolve problems, so that others may learn and take heart from these examples.

The second point is that journalists need to do their homework and really work hard to get into detail to assess programs and other efforts to address human rights abuses. Do programs work? What is their measurable impact? Are public funds being spend wisely and resulting in a satisfactory return? What lessons are to be learned from successes and shortfalls? This isn’t easy work. It requires dogged, unglamorous investigative labor, pouring over documents and accounts of programs and generally performing the “fourth estate” historical oversight function of journalism, holding governments and other organizations accountable for their actions.

To illustrate these points I’d like to share with you briefly some recent efforts by U.S. international broadcasting in the areas of human rights and development.

Read the whole article from DW Global Media Forum

(Source : Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum)