The Media Safety and Solidarity Fund
A MEAA initiative established in 2005, the Media Safety and Solidarity Fund is supported by donations from Australian journalists and media personnel to assist colleagues in the Asia-Pacific region through times of emergency, war and hardship. It is a unique and tangible product of strong inter-regional comradeship.
It is administered through the Asia-Pacific office of the International Federation of Journalists in collaboration with MEAA and the MSSF board.
The fund trustees direct the International Federation of Journalists Asia-Pacific office to implement projects to be funded by MSSF. The fund’s trustees are Stuart Washington, the national MEAA Media section president; the two national MEAA Media vice-presidents Gina McColl and Michael Janda; two MEAA Media federal councillors, Ben Butler and Alana Schetzer; and Brent Edwards representing New Zealand’s journalists’ union, E tū, which also supports the fund.
The main fundraising activities of the fund are from MEAA members as a result of enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations, the Press Freedom Australia dinners, auctions and raffles; and the presentation dinner for the annual Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism. New Zealand’s journalists’ union, E tū also supports the fund. In 2014 and again in 2015 Japan’s public broadcasting union Nipporo also made contributions to the fund.
In 2016, the MSSF continued to support a number of key projects and activities conducted by the IFJ Asia-Pacific. It supports the IFJ’s human rights and safety program which monitors, campaigns and advocates for press freedom and safety in the region. It also offers immediate support to journalists across the Asia Pacific.
In 2016–17 the MSSF supported 26 children in Nepal and 62 children in the Philippines. In addition, the MSSF has provided support to the son of Fijian journalist Sitiveni Moce who died in 2015.
Press freedom
MSSF supports the human rights and safety program, which monitors press freedom and journalist safety issues in the region, and offers immediate emergency support to endangered journalists facing threats or harm across the Asia-Pacific.
The MSSF also supports the IFJ’s China Press Freedom project, which is co-funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The project aims to promote and support press freedom in China, by strengthening the capacity of the media community to act as watchdogs. The project supports a China project coordinator, regularly media monitoring and reporting on press freedom violations. The project also included two workshops on safety, activism, negotiation and digital security, as well as the production of the annual China Press Freedom Report and the digital security handbook.
Supporting the children of slain journalists
In 2015 MSSF continued its vital support for the education of children in Nepal and the Philippines whose parents have been killed for their work in the media.
During 2015–16 MSSF supported 30 children in Nepal. Another 85 students were supported in the Philippines (18 are at elementary school, 35 are at high school and 33 are in college). Twenty-eight of these are the children of journalists slain in the November 23, 2009 Ampatuan Massacre in southern Mindanao. This was the worst slaughter of members of the media — 58 people were murdered, 32 of them journalists and their killers have yet to be convicted.
In early April 2016, a three-day vacation camp was organised for the students in Nepal. The camp provided them with opportunity to meet each other and share their experiences.
During the camp, the students were also provided with trauma counselling following the devastating earthquake that hit Nepal in April and May in 2015.
In addition, MSSF has provided support to the son of Fijian journalist Sitiveni Moce who died in 2015 from injuries and later paralysis sustained in an assault by coup supporters in 2006.
MSSF also provided support to Uma KC, a graduate of the Nepal Children’s Education Fund to assist her journalism work in Nepal.
Rebuilding after natural disaster
Following the devastating earthquakes in Nepal in April and May 2015, MSSF provided $A14,000 to the IFJ affiliate, the Federation of Nepali Journalists, to assist with recovering and rebuilding media infrastructure after the earthquake.
As part of the support package, MSSF supported a three-day trauma and safety workshop in Kathmandu, Nepal, which was held in February 2016. The workshop was run by DART International and included a train-the-trainer component, with the aim that the journalists would gain the skills to share their knowledge and train their colleagues.
The workshop was an important part of MSSF’s support, to ensure the media would play an important role in rebuilding Nepal.
MSSF also provided financial support to the Media Association blong Vanuatu (MAV) following devastating Tropical Cyclone Pam that hit the island chain in March 2015. The support focused on assisting the media get back to work after the disaster and rebuilding media houses.
The MSSF remains one of the only examples of inter-regional support and cooperation between the media across the globe.
The Media Safety and Solidarity Fund remains one of the few examples of inter-regional support and cooperation among journalists across the globe.
