Upholding Journalistic Freedom in WartimeCategory: Education | Area of Effect: Free Press
The World Assembly,
Aware that journalism is crucial for creating an intelligent and informed populace able to effectively comprehend the challenges of their lives;
Noting, specifically, the importance of wartime journalism as a means for the people to gain knowledge about events that have the potential to affect the entire international community;
Concerned by the void in international law upholding the right to a free press specifically in wartime, following the repeal of previous legislation on this topic; and
Resolving that there is a need for a piece of General Assembly law that protects wartime journalists and thus protects the people’s right to information;
Hereby,
1. Defines a ‘journalist’, for the purposes of this resolution, as a person who gathers and relays information, with the sole intention of publishing this information for the public;
2. Defines a ‘wartime journalist’ as a journalist who reports on events occurring in wartime from inside an area where military activities are taking place, have recently taken place, or will soon take place, and who has no intention of hindering or working against one or more legitimate sides in the conflict;
3. Charges the World Assembly Compliance Commission (WACC) with establishing clear and externally-obvious identification signifying member states’ wartime journalists as being such, and further charges the WACC with making this identification publicly available to member states and the governments thereof;
4. Mandates that all wartime journalists wear this aforementioned identification, and clarifies that wartime journalists who fail to do so are not protected under the auspices of this resolution;
5. Prohibits active members of a member state’s military from utilising the identification required in clause 3;
6. Compels member nations to permit wartime journalists access to any areas over which that nation holds jurisdiction, unless –
- The area is private property and the owner, who is not a military or governmental entity (excluding those acting as a private citizen and with no intention to unduly hinder journalism) nor purchased the property on behalf of one, of that property has not consented to the presence of journalists,
- Allowing access to the area has a high chance of causing loss of life or damage to property, and this risk cannot be reasonably mitigated, or
- Obtaining access to that area poses serious technical or logistical difficulties not able to remedied without sustained effort or great expense;
7. Clarifies that, with regards to clause 6a, if a property is owned jointly between persons who are able to deny consent to journalists and persons who are not, those persons who would ordinarily be able to deny consent to the entrance of journalists are still able to do so;
8. Permits wartime journalists to report on any activities occurring as part of military action, unless reporting on these activists could result in loss of life or military equipment, the breach of World Assembly legislation pertaining to privacy, or the jeopardisation of lawful military activities;
9. Prohibits member nations from restricting the movement or actions of journalists, except either in accordance with the exceptions listed in this resolution to journalists’ freedoms, or where the journalists’ actions would be prohibited for a normal civilian not performing journalistic activities and not inside a warzone;
10. Urges member states to fully brief all wartime journalists on the dangers of reporting in wartime in an unbiased manner; and
11. Exempts from the protections of this resolution any wartime journalist who has been found to have committed or be planning to commit espionage, or who has attempted to unduly interfere with legitimate military actions.
“Be as harsh as is necessary in critiquing this.”