IMF Bars Community Journalists from D.C. Meetings [April 14]

  FAIR-L
                    Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
               Media analysis, critiques and news reports




ACTION ALERT:
IMF Bars Community Journalists from D.C. Meetings

April 14, 2000

Press credentials to the IMF/World Bank meetings in Washington, D.C. on
April 16 and 17  have been denied to journalists working for community radio
and television stations. The denial of credentials has come directly from
the IMF Press Office, which has sent the following message to some of those
reporters:

"We do not provide press accreditation to public access TV, community radio,
nor student or academic publications to attend our meetings."

No explanation of the policy has been provided by the IMF. Nor does it seem
a coherent policy; when one applicant pointed out that the television
station he works for is a government access station (not public access, a
meaningful distinction), he received a one-word reply from the IMF's William
Murray: "Sorry."

The wide-ranging importance of the World Bank/IMF proceedings underscores
the need to allow access to media outlets of all shape and size. Community
radio and other alternative news outlets provided a much different picture
of the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle than did corporate-owned
and -sponsored media-- the kind that are favored by  current IMF policy.

Community media, in particular community radio, are essential to developing
nations around the world, where they are sometimes a primary means of
communicating news and information. It is disturbing that IMF meetings that
will determine the very future of such nations would be "off-limits" to some
of their most important media outlets.

ACTION: Contact the IMF Press Office to express your thoughts on their
selective distribution of press credentials to the meetings in Washington,
D.C.

CONTACT:
IMF Press Office
Fax: (202) 623-6772
mailto:press@imf.org

William Murray
mailto:wmurray@imf.org

For more background, please read Jason Vest's "IMF, World Bank Bar
Independent Journalists From Events" at:
http://www.speakout.com/ThePulse/101280/

As always, please remember that letter are taken more seriously if they
maintain a polite tone. Please cc your correspondence to:
mailto:fair@fair.org