'Freedom of Press helps fight terrorism'

(AP) October 2, 2005

AMMAN — A UN communications official told a conference for training journalists in post-conflict and developing areas yesterday that the media could contribute to peace and help fight terrorism.

"In a world where people fear a clash of civilisations, the need for tolerance and affirmation of our common humanity has never been stronger,” Shashi Tharoor, the UN Undersecretary General for Communication, told some 500 participants at the Global Forum for Media Development. "We must provide the best chance for local voices to be heard across our globalised world. If we can achieve this we would not just be contributing to peace in country but to global security,” he said.

Tharoor warned that the alternative to enhanced understanding that comes from media development is "terrorism that dominates the headlines.”

"If terrorism is to be tackled and ended we will have to deal with the ignorance that sustains it. We will have to know each other better and to see ourselves as others see us,” he said.

The three-day conference gathered media trainers from 180 organisations in over 100 countries in Asia, the Americas, Europe and Africa.

Host Jordan has prioritised the evolution of its own state-run media to private ownership under its ongoing 10-year National Agenda reform programme.

Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher told the gathering that parliament would soon endorse a law creating an independent board to run state television and radio and that legislation has been amended permitting private radio and TV stations to operate.

Muasher added that a new law insuring the media’s independence is now under consideration where journalists are safeguarded against detention and no media organisation can be shut down by the government.

He called the steps "necessary for the development of an independent media.”