Kathmandu Conference

The first Asia Pacific Regional Conference of Press Councils was held in Kathmandu, Nepal, in February 1994.

It was also the first Regional Conference organised under the auspices of the World Association of Press Councils (WAPC) since its formation in October 1992.

In attendance were representatives of the press Councils of Australia, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Finland and Nigeria, together with interested parties from these countries and from Korea, Malaysia and Thailand. In all nearly 80 delegates attended.

The conference was inaugurated by the Nepalese Prime Minister, The Hon Girija Prasad Koirala, who noted that the conference could deliberate on international media cooperation and on the question of human rights and their boundaries. He added that, though the Nepalese press lacked resources, it had played a significant role in the struggle for democracy.

A general report on the WAPC and on the development of press councils generally was given by the Chairman of the WAPC Executive Council, Professor David Flint. His report on the Australian Press Council (APC) - in his role as Chairman of the Council - was the first of the reports from representatives of each of the press councils present. Noteworthy in particular was the report of the Chairman of the Nigerian Press Council, Hadj Alade Odunewu. This Council has been going just over a year and has dealt with 25 complaints, issuing 7 adjudications. It is also pressing for the repeal of laws and regulations that prevent the scrutiny of official documents. The Nigerian Press Council was assisted in its beginnings by material sent from the APC, through the Australian High Commission. Hadj Odenewu referred to the APC booklet detailing its principles and practices as "our bible".

Sessions at the conference included:

• the Development of Press Councils;
   
• Regional Cooperation;
   
• Press Freedom: Cultural Responsibilities vs the State;
   
• Responsibility and the Media;
   
• Complaints Procedures; and
   
• Transnational Publishing and Broadcasting.

The conference agreed to seek funds to undertake a study and prepare two "issues papers", one to explore the questions raised by transnational publishing and broadcasting and the second on the legal restrictions on freedom of expression and freedom of the press. The recent publication on the press laws of selected countries by Article 19 and UNESCO, Press Laws and Practice, was an important contribution to knowledge in this area.. It also agreed to the holding, in Helsinki, of a European Regional Conference in April 1995 and confirmed that the next World Conference of Press Councils and Similar Bodies, the first under the auspices of the WAPC, would be held in Sri Lanka in August 1995.

The "Kathmandu Declaration", adopted by the conference, also agreed, among other matters, that the WAPC should

• encourage more access to training facilities wherever available for journalists from developing countries;
   
• examine the demarcation adopted in major legal systems between freedom of speech and reasonable restrictions on such freedom, for example in defamation law or the law of parliamentary privilege; and
   
• examine issues relating to investigative journal;ism vis-a-vis the right to privacy of individuals including the right to privacy of public figures.

It also endorsed the philosophy that regards newspapers " as a social industry, not simply an industry established for trading purposes so newspapers published regularly need to have protection and special assistance from governments in accordance with an independent audit which should include tax and tariff concessions in developing countries".

The Kathmandu conference was seen by the WAPC as a good start, following its inauguration at the Delhi conference in 1992. The association looks forward to its 1995 conferences with enthusiasm.

[ return to top ]

Return to APC News 1994 Index

Documents with the icon require the Acrobat Reader, a Free Utility from Adobe. Click here for more information.