‘You are the sixteenth member of the Security Council.”
China’s UN Ambassador Li BaoDong speaking to the international media

In March, China took over the rotating presidency of the Security Council for the month. As is the practice at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, on March 2, the 2nd day of his presidency, Li Baodong, China’s Ambassador to the UN, held a press conference for journalists at the UN.(1) At the beginning of the press conference, he welcomed the media, saying that the media is the “sixteenth member of the Security Council.” (There are 15 member nations on the UN Security Council.)

Thinking of the international media in such a way recognizes its influence on the actions of the UN Security Council. This presents an interesting phenomenon which it is important to understand. The international media does indeed play a role in how the Security Council… weiter lesen

“New Media and the Challenge of Reporting from the UN”

[Note: This is a slightly edited version of a talk I presented at "The International Conference on Soft Power" on September 8, 2009, at the Tsinghua International Center for Communication Studies, in Beijing, China.]

I want to share some lessons that have been learned in the three years I have been reporting from the United Nations (UN) as a resident correspondent for the online South Korean newspaper, “OhmyNews International”.

This past December, I won the Silver Award for Excellence in Print and Online Journalism presented by the United Nations Correspondents’ Association in honor of Elizabeth Neuffer, a Boston Globe reporter who died while on assignment reporting from Iraq.

In the brief remarks I made accepting the award I referred to the importance of the judges presenting this award not only for me, but also for other reporters at the… weiter lesen