Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions 5.3. CHALLENGES TO HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTING While media reporting of human rights issues has grown significantly in the past two decades as “human rights” has become more of a mainstream issue, the extent and quality of human rights reporting remains inconsistent. Many human rights issues, especially those that are less visible, continue to go unreported. The focus of reporting tends to fall primarily on civil and political rights, while discussion of economic, social and cultural rights is largely ignored by the media. Further, reporting of human rights issues can commonly occur without the context or explanation that is necessary for people to properly understand the issue. A report by the International Council on Human Rights Policy30 found journalists faced a number of challenges in reporting on human rights, including: • Ignorance of what human rights are; many journalists and editors, as with others in the community, are not familiar with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other key international human rights standards • Confusion about where human rights are; there can be a tendency to view human rights violations as something that takes place “elsewhere” and overlook domestic issues where international human rights standards apply, such as the treatment of women, indigenous people, people with disabilities or refugees • Limited awareness about the scope of human rights; while there is broad awareness of certain key civil and political rights, understanding of economic, social and cultural rights – such as the right to housing, health and education – is generally low. Given this limited awareness of human rights, journalists can “miss” important human rights stories or fail to see the human rights dimensions of stories that they might prepare on topics such as economic policy, education, housing, the environment, health or transport. In addition, journalists can use human rights terms that have a specific legal meaning – such as “genocide” or “war crimes” – in a way that is careless or imprecise. As the International Council on Human Rights Policy noted: These shortcomings diminish the professional quality of reporting, and hamper the communication of information that is sometimes essential for understanding. They indicate that the profession should identify or improve reporting and editorial standards in order to enhance the accuracy and consistency of human rights coverage.31 NHRIs can support the media to be accurate and informed reporters of human rights. An important starting point is for NHRIs to open a dialogue with news editors, journalists and other media professionals so that both groups can better understand their respective roles and responsibilities. For example, NHRIs can organize meetings or seminars with media organizations and journalists’ groups to discuss: • Challenges and concerns around human rights reporting in the country • How best the NHRI can provide journalists with accurate and reliable information or resources on human rights • How both groups can cooperate to create the legal, political and social conditions required for independent journalism. 30 International Council on Human Rights Policy; Journalism, Media and the Challenge of Human Rights Reporting; 2002; pp. 113117. 31 Ibid; p. 5. 72 | Chapter 5: Supporting journalists in their work