SEOUL, April 25 (BNA) Korean Prime Minister Bo-kyum Kim called for a new history of journalism and humanity that would light the way for overcoming all challenges that might come under the great transformation of civilization.
In a message to journalists from 34 countries participating in the World Press Conference (WJC2022), the Prime Minister said that people’s mistrust of journalism that has continued to grow due to fake news, especially during the COVID pandemic, should never be repeated.
“Unreasonable allegations or provocative false descriptions about vaccines have been reported with enthusiasm to increase online traffic, and to create confusion to create concern in the public,” he said.
“We all need to think about the right behavior for the future of our society, and what role journalism should play. I hope that all journalists in this conference can find a way to create a ‘healthy society’. We need to gather your knowledge in a spirit of solidarity and cooperation. With that strength, let us make A new history of journalism and humanity.
In his remarks, KJA Chairman Kim Dong-hoon said that journalists who share commonalities even if their countries, races, skin color and ideologies are different, work hard for freedom and peace and spread the truth with a warm heart and great reasoning.
“With distrust of journalism accelerating since COVID-19, I anticipate the space to listen to efforts to stamp out ‘fake news’ in every country so that we can jointly deliver and complement it to achieve respectful journalism,” he said.
The World Journalists’ Conference (WJC2022), organized by the Association of Korean Journalists (JAK) will be held on April 25-26 in a hybrid format in Seoul.
Over the course of two days, journalists from different countries highlighted the importance of combating disinformation and the need to strengthen support for fact-checking and exchange of experiences.
Those who are able to attend physically and those who will participate virtually from as far afield as Colombia and Papua New Guinea give speeches, share experiences, discuss best practices and review the latest fact-checking.
On the first day, 30 speakers from 25 countries took to the main stage either physically or online, bringing with them different experiences and expressing diverse viewpoints as they fostered discussions on fact-checking.
On the second day of the annual conference, held since 2013 without interruption, journalists will deliver speeches on the topic “A society transformed by journalists”.
The 23 journalists, from 19 countries, will highlight the role of journalists and how their work has affected their communities and changed behaviours.
Speakers on both days will answer questions and comments at the end of the sessions.
Sang Kye Lee, former president of the Asia Journalists Association (AJA), said the role of the AJA, with its extensive network of journalists across Asia and beyond, will become more important in verifying allegations and verifying reports.
Evan Lim, editor at Environment Communicators in Singapore, will highlight the role of journalists during critical times of the COVID pandemic.
“As countries scramble to understand what’s going on, overcome economic setbacks and vaccines, the media’s response is impacting society and making the difference between success and failure,” he said.
“As people enter the so-called ‘internet age’, it has become clear that the flow of information has the potential to rise above politics,” said the General Director of Kyrgyzstan Kabar News Agency, Kuban Tabaldev.
“More stories began to be made up, with their authors publishing their versions of events that were useful to them,” he said.
Sindh Courier’s editor-in-chief, Nasir Ijaz, said the wide availability of content deemed harmful has raised concern.
“There is no common understanding of the rules that should govern the internet internationally,” said the veteran journalist based in Karachi.
“Hence self-regulation appears to be the answer to increasing accountability online.”
Media consultant Habib Toumi said that journalists and fact-checkers must come together to write a more reasonable future for the world.
“There is an urgent need to work together to combat the tsunami of misinformation, disinformation, manipulation and fabrication that is sweeping the world,” he said.
“If we don’t fight disinformation and its ominous threats, more lives will be lost, more communities will be targeted, and races will continue to be abused. We need to reduce disinformation before it is too late. We have no other choice.”
The World Journalists’ Conference is an annual event that invites foreign journalists to discuss the role of the media in contributing to the development of journalism and societies.
Since its launch in 2013, the World Journalists’ Conference has been a great networking platform for journalists from diverse backgrounds.
Founded in 1964, the Korea Journalists Association has more than 10,000 members from hundreds of media companies.
The association seeks to build on the achievements made over nearly six decades by its founders and members.