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 | USP Discipline Coordinator for Media and journalism, Dr ian Weber, with guest speaker Nazhat Shameem, at the World press Freedom Day celebrations at the USP Oceania Centre, in Laucala Campus, Suva. |
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Students, media professionals and members of the public were treated to two days of media rights advocacy, through movie screenings, an inter-secondary oratory contest and panel discussions at the University of the South Pacific Laucala Campus in Suva, on 2 and 3 May, 2013.
The two-day event, organized by the Journalism Students Association, was held to celebrate the 25th UNESCO World Press Freedom Day. The theme of the event was ‘Safe to Speak’.
The event drew to a close with a cocktail on Friday night, where the keynote speaker, former Fiji High Court judge, and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for Women, Nazhat Shameem, advised the students on the previous global legislations, ascertaining the freedom of the press.
She said in saying that freedom of speech means people are free to speak, does not mean that people are free to trespass on the rights and freedoms of others.
“The 1946 United Nations Declaration of Human Rights considered freedom of speech as such an important principle that it was placed in its preamble,” she added.
She said another international covenant, the 1976 International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) provided that free speech was subject to limitations, in articles 19 and 20, stating that restrictions on freedom of speech and expression could be placed, if it was deemed derogatory, in the national or public interest.
She emphasized the legal definitions of the concepts of free speech and hate speech. “There is a fine line between free speech, which encourages debate and hate speech that incites violence. The prohibition of the hate speech came from the ICCPR, thereafter,” she said.
She said educating journalists was also essential. “It is very important for journalists, people in the newsroom and the mass media in general, to understand the rights and freedoms of others and the right to speak,” she said.
USP Discipline Coordinator for Media and Journalism, Dr Ian Weber shared similar sentiments on education, saying that, “Proactive education focusing on democratic functions will see the future of Fiji prosper, and journalists will become the advocates and facilitators of dialogue and discussion”.
He added that the media would never be free unless the citizens bestow on them the right to be free.
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