NationStates Jolt Archive

I had previously issued this proposal but it somehow got erased from the proposal list. Since I did not break any rules with it I don't really understand what happened. Anyway, this is a revised (through some previous forum debate) edition of my proposal for Journalist's Rights and Duties. Delegates, if you like it don't forget to give me your approval.


Journalist's Rights and Duties

A resolution to improve worldwide human and civil rights.


Category: Human Rights


Strength: Strong


Proposed by: Quedas

Description: We, the United Nations,

Defining a journalist as a person, over 18 years old, whose main professional occupation is the gathering, selection and treatment of facts, news or opinions, through text, image or sound, destined to be delivered by press, news agency, radio, television or any other form of electronic broadcasting,

Recognizing the importance of a worldwide respect to the free flow of information and the intermediary role played by the journalist in the maintenance of said free flow,

And in compliance with the basic premises defined in the “United Nations Resolution # 63 – Freedom of Press”,

Hereby declare these to be the basic rights of the journalist:

1 – A journalist shall have complete press access in all United Nations member countries, given that he is properly identified and affiliated with a credited medium organization. A International Press Registry Committee shall be created for the purpose of defining what constitutes a credited medium organization and affiliate branches shall be placed in every UN member nation;

2 – A journalist shall never be forced to reveal his sources, under no circumstances, even in the case of criminal prosecution, enjoying the same rights of privilege as any other privileged occupation (e.g. a lawyer);

3 – A journalist shall always be awarded the right of free expression, free from any form of exterior pressure (internal, governmental or economic). A special UN committee shall be put together in each of the UN member countries to monitor this compliance.

Given that no such rights shall come without some degree of responsibility, the UN also declares these to be the basic duties of the journalist:

1 – A journalist must always uphold his work to the standard of factual truth. Any journalist who fails to do so is liable to legal prosecution by the injured party in the article and/or be subject to government sanctions. The exceptions to this rule (e.g. a satirical article or a column), must be explicitly shown as such;

2 – A journalist should never reveal his sources, being subject, in the event of a breach of trust, to the same sanctions predicted in any other profession that includes a right to privilege (e.g. a lawyer). This rule only applies in the case of a request of anonymity by the source;

3 – And finally, a journalist shall always respect the privilege of being awarded the right to free expression and strive to provide his audience with the best kind of journalism he can, making such quality the benchmark for the worldwide free flow of ideas.

I just realized I had breached a rule by refering to a previous resolution - maybe that's why it was banned before. I just submitted the revised proposal (Which can be seen below) - hope the editors dont dismiss it as spam at take the time to see that they are two different proposals. Again, UN delegates, don't forget to give your approval, but on the right proposal, the one without the resolution reference.

Journalist's Rights and Duties

A resolution to improve worldwide human and civil rights.


Category: Human Rights


Strength: Mild


Proposed by: Quedas

Description: We, the United Nations,

Defining a journalist as a person, over 18 years old, whose main professional occupation is the gathering, selection and treatment of facts, news or opinions, through text, image or sound, destined to be delivered by press, news agency, radio, television or any other form of electronic broadcasting,

Recognizing the importance of a worldwide respect to the free flow of information and the intermediary role played by the journalist in the maintenance of said free flow,

Hereby declare these to be the basic rights of the journalist:

1 – A journalist shall have complete press access in all United Nations member countries, given that he is properly identified and affiliated with a credited medium organization. A International Press Registry Committee shall be created for the purpose of defining what constitutes a credited medium organization and affiliate branches shall be placed in every UN member nation;

2 – A journalist shall never be forced to reveal his sources, under no circumstances, even in the case of criminal prosecution, enjoying the same rights of privilege as any other privileged occupation (e.g. a lawyer);

3 – A journalist shall always be awarded the right of free expression, free from any form of exterior pressure (internal, governmental or economic). A special UN committee shall be put together in each of the UN member countries to monitor this compliance.

Given that no such rights shall come without some degree of responsibility, the UN also declares these to be the basic duties of the journalist:

1 – A journalist must always uphold his work to the standard of factual truth. Any journalist who fails to do so is liable to legal prosecution by the injured party in the article and/or be subject to government sanctions. The exceptions to this rule (e.g. a satirical article or a column), must be explicitly shown as such;

2 – A journalist should never reveal his sources, being subject, in the event of a breach of trust, to the same sanctions predicted in any other profession that includes a right to privilege (e.g. a lawyer). This rule only applies in the case of a request of anonymity by the source;

3 – And finally, a journalist shall always respect the privilege of being awarded the right to free expression and strive to provide his audience with the best kind of journalism he can, making such quality the benchmark for the worldwide free flow of ideas.

I am prepared to vote against this motion, as I beleive that the free flow of imformation should be strongly monitored and controlled by the governments that it concerns, in order to keep the peace... What good does it do anybody to report on the atrocities commited by a governemt? None! It results in wars, attempted coups, etc etc etc...

Unfortunately, I must agree with the previous delegate, as free access of the press could be misconstrued to include military bases, governement buildings, private residences. These violations of national security and privacy would cause us to vote against this proposal

We, too, must agree with Asymtope, and for the reasons Marric stated.

We also note an objection to the age, requesting that instead this proposal simply say "legally-recognized adulthood" instead of an age. That way, you don't get this shot down by nations who use younger ages for adulthood.

I'm also against this, if journalists don't have to identify where they got their 'facts' from how can anyone trust them? Ergo, legal action would be brought onto them because people believe they are lying.