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21 / 05 / 2004
A world observatory on the status of information is created during the first Forum Barcelona 2004 on communications
The director of “Information, Power and Ethics in the 21st Century”, Manuel Campo Vidal, announced today that the preparations for the creation of a World Observatory on the Status of Information are well underway. In addition to the Barcelona Manifesto, the observatory will constitute the legacy of an event that gathered 121 speakers assessed in three days of round tables the current situation in World information.
The creation of a World Observatory on the Status of Information is the most important news arising from the conclusions of the Forum dialogue “Information, Power and Ethics in the 21st Century” presented by its director, Manuel Campo Vidal, Elisenda Roca, Vice-president of the Catalonian Journalists Association, Mustapha Masmoudi, author of the Mc Bride Report, and Mireia Belil, director of the Forum Dialogues.
Elisenda Roca pointed out that the observatory will be a non - profit organization made up of communications experts that aims at becoming a monitoring tool to denounce the violations to fundamental press freedoms of opinion and expression. Campo Vidal revealed that the preliminary contacts with the government administrations have been made, and that these have been very positive. Masmoudi welcomed the creation of the Observatory as an ideal way of identifying the new problems faced by journalism.
Campo, Roca and Belil stated their satisfaction for the results of the dialogue that welcomed 121 speakers. “The speakers in the dialogue are all real authorities in their respective fields”, explained Campo, who also did not hesitate to point out the “spectacular” input made during the round tables. “This is all extremely valuable material, and it will be of great interest for the Observatory”, he said.
The organizers of “Information, Power and Ethics in the 21st Century” have emphasized that the dramatic developments in places like Iraq and Palestine during the three days of the dialogue are “a confirmation that the situation is worsening, which requires a renewed commitment on the part of journalists “, said Campo. “Media people have become a military target, expressed Roca with regret while referring to the killing in Iraq of a video journalist of the Al-Jazeera TV chain.
The dialogue will be ended on Friday with a tribute to those fallen in defense of freedom of speech in a ceremony presided by the parents of Ricardo Ortega, the last Spanish journalist killed on duty. The former presidents of the Catalan Journalists Association also posed for a historical photo portrait and concluded with the reading of the Barcelona Manifesto, which “synthesizes the journalists’ posture” in the face of the dramatic way in which the 21st century has begun.
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