By Zubeida Jaffer
More than 50 Global Media organisations took a historic step in South Africa to craft a declaration ahead of the G20 Summit in November to lobby their governments on issues on information integrity, media viability, journalist safety and a safer, more inclusive, digital world.
The seeds of this initiative known as the M20 were planted when the G20 countries met in India in 2023. Then, Indian journalists led by Siddharth Varadarajan, founder of The Wire, convened an online discussion that laid the basis for the M20.
South Africa through the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) and Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) held the first physical gathering of the M20 on 1 and 2 September which emerged from discussions with The Johannesburg Declaration.
Delegates committed to engage in conversations with their respective governments that form part of the G20 to integrate the vital elements from the declaration into their deliberations and final global declarations.
They condemned the relentless persecution of journalists worldwide, especially in war-torn Gaza calling for an end to impunity for those who attack journalists during armed conflicts. They further called for a global campaign to be initiated to demand justice for journalists whose lives and work are compromised by violence, intimidation, harassment and authoritarian repression
They proposed establishing a Media Integrity Monitoring Framework to track progress on G20 and M20 commitments outlined in the Declaration.
To watch the recording of the sessions, go to You Tube.
