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Journal of Environmental Peace Issue 2, 2003 Editors: Editorial Board: Managing Editor: Corresponding
Editors: News Editor: Assistant
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Editorial: Issue 2, 2003 In this second edition of The Journal of Environmental Peace, we deal with the definition of environmental peace, security problems arising from the September 11 tragedy, and change in complex systems. Change in complex systems attempts to determine how social and environmental change happens—by evolution, revolution or some other process. Another paper deals with purifying air inside buildings. (For our next issue, we are soliciting papers on the environmental industry and alternative energy, and we urge readers with expertise in these subjects to submit articles . We also invite readers to express their opinions for our next News and Views section.) The concern in this issue is the journalist's right to report the news without interference. The Journal of Environmental Peace, devoted to publishing academic papers on issues of the environment and peace, is dedicated to freedom in publishing. As scientists and scholars, we defend our own right to independent expression of opinion; similarly, we support the right of journalists to report the news without interference. To that end, we are reproducing the essence of news releases of The Canadian Association of Journalists, a professional organization with more than 1,300 members across Canada that advocates on behalf of journalists in the public-interest. The original releases, edited for length here, can be found on the CAJ's website http://www.caj.ca.
Police practices endanger journalists, association says January 21, 2004 - The Canadian Association of Journalists condemns
the move by Ontario Provincial Police officers posing as journalists in
the days leading up to the shooting of native rights activist Dudley
George in 1995. “This
is a troublesome tactic by police that threatens the work of legitimate
journalists seeking the truth,” said CAJ president Paul Schneidereit. “When
the public doubts the real identity of journalists, vital information
dries up and the public interest is undermined.” Information
about police posing as journalists was recently revealed through video
tapes obtained by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation under Canadian
access to information laws. Journalists
depend on their credibility to build trust in relationships with sources.
Police posing as journalists threaten that credibility. At
worst, such tactics could endanger reporters’ safety. Journalists covering sensitive issues like the Ipperwash case
[in which native protester Dudley George was shot to death by police] have reported intense anger from the public, some of whom have come to see
journalists as police assistants rather than independent observers. This
isn’t the first time police have used the profession of journalism
to further their own investigations. In 2001, the CAJ spoke out against
RCMP officers in British Columbia posing as journalists to apprehend an
escaped convict hiding in the B.C. Iinterior. “Police
have already been compromising our ability to do our jobs by seizing
notes, video and audio tapes that threaten journalistic independence,” Schneidereit
said today. “Impersonating journalists is a further attack on
both our credibility and safety.” The
journalists’ right to obtain information from confidential sources was
upheld today in an Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruling by Madam
Justice Mary Lou Benotto: “If
the journalist-informant relationship is undermined, society as a whole is
affected,” she wrote in her judgment. “It is through confidential
sources that matters of great public importance are made known. As
corporate and public power increase, the ability of the average citizen to
affect his or her world depends upon the information disseminated by the
press. To deprive the media of an important tool in the gathering of news
would affect society as a whole. The relationship is one that should be
fostered.” CAJ
President Paul Schneidereit commented: “When journalists enter into
confidential relationships with sources, they do so with great care,” he
said. “And when police attempt to force journalists to break those
confidences, they undermine the interests of both sources and the
public,” he added. “We’re
overjoyed that a court made such a clear statement recognizing that
protecting sources protects society at large,” he said. CAJ Denounces Seizure of
Reporters’ Notes. (OTTAWA)
January 21, 2004 - The Canadian Association of Journalists
denounces today’s RCMP raids on the home and office of Ottawa Citizen
reporter Juliet O’Neill. O’Neill
was targeted because of her
past reporting on the Maher Arar case (a Canadian citizen who was arrested
by United States officials and sent to Syria via Jordan, allegedly with
Canadian official knowledge),
which cited information from confidential security sources. The
RCMP conducted the raids under authority granted them by the post-Sept.
11, 2001, Security of Information Act as part of their investigation into
a possible information leak in the Arar case. The
RCMP, in conducting the raids under the pretense of national security, are
threatening all journalists’ right to obtain information from
confidential sources, says CAJ president Paul Schneidereit.
This right, which was reiterated today in an Ontario Superior Court
of Justice ruling by Madam Justice Benotto, must be ensured for all
journalists and the public whom they inform. Particularly
in a story as sensitive and important as Arar’s, where information is
often not publicly available, journalists must be able to freely and
confidently obtain information from sources whom they can protect.
Searches such as the one conducted by the RCMP must not dissuade
journalists from obtaining important confidential information in the
future. The
Security of Information Act and its broad prohibitions against possession
of sensitive government materials threatens journalists’ right, and duty, to thoroughly and truthfully investigate
stories related to national security. “Is this the face of the new Canada?” asks Schneidereit. “Security yes, but at what price? The legislation seems to have sweeping reach. If today’s police actions are any example, the consequences for freedom of the press are ominous.” |
Contents:
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