BALI - The press in developing countries has been urged to keep the anti-corruption crusade alive by exposing graft cases despite some journalists working in extremely dangerous situations.

Renowned publishers and journalists, led by CNN’s international news anchor and US-based senior correspondent Jim Clancy, made this call here Thursday.

They were speaking to about 20 selected journalists from the developing world on the fourth day of the Second Session of the States Party to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) at Nusa Dua Resort.

Clancy tipped the journalists on how to provoke a broad public debate on critical national issues, particularly corruption, a topic he said often set the media on a collision course with corrupt government officials, which in many cases result into journalists’ harassment.

"Normally, when you fight corruption, corruption fights back. But even in the face of persecution you’ve got to get a way of using the 4 Ps of journalists to help speak for the voiceless… the ordinary person," he said.

By the 4 Ps, he meant the pen, pad, phone and paper.

The session dubbed ‘Peer-to-Peer Media Forum: Covering Corruption with Integrity’ also featured calls for journalists to report responsibly, since it’s their own credibility that is at stake.

Clancy urged journalists to give special attention to corruption by ensuring regular reports on the vice. He said that while campaigning for integrity, an investigative journalist must develop a coverage strategy, raise public awareness, create a wider forum for discussion – using internet, including blogging and involving as many people as possible.

South African Raymond Louw of International Press Institute said: "No one wins the battle of press freedom. It’s always going to be a continuous struggle."

He gave an example of Kenya – where close to 1000 people have been killed in the post-election violence since last month’s disputed presidential poll – saying that two years ago during a meeting in that East African nation "everyone was full of praise of President (Mwai) Kibaki’s government on freedom of expression. But today it’s a different story."

He said that some countries like Egypt score highly in guaranteeing freedom of the press in one year and the following year they perform poorly.

The facilitators were reacting to a comment from an African journalist who emotionally told the gathering that in his country, journalists were almost giving up on investigating corruption stories because the government in power always ignores such reports, and instead promotes the accused.

The media forum was organised by the UN Office on Drugs and Corruption (UNODC), which regards the press as a key partner in ensuring that member governments respect the anti-corruption convention.

Louw decried the continued existence of insult laws in most African countries, which often lead to journalists being accused of slander and defamation, hence restricting the press freedom.

Most of the speakers noted that the same laws lead to incarceration of many journalists. They talked of repeated death threats from government officials to journalists who follow-up stories that expose their corrupt tendencies.

Other speakers included Canadian lawmaker John G. Williams, also the Chairman of Global Organisation of Parliamentarians against Corruption (GOPAC),the Director of BBC World Service Trust, Simon Derry, and Peter Mejlaender, a Norwegian author and freelance journalist.

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