Since our last meeting, your committee has written letters to the governments of the Philippines, Bahrain, Russia, Ethiopia, Turkey, Pakistan and Mexico. They are all available for your reading pleasure on the OPC Web site, and I call your particular attention to two of them — Tom Squitieri‘s letter to Turkey and Kevin McDermott‘s rocket to Pakistan — for their comprehensiveness, their eloquence and their urgency. Again, I must plead for you all to take the time to visit our Web site and comment on the many items there. If our own board members have nothing to say, why should anyone else take the trouble?
I call your attention to Jeremy Main‘s round-up, also on the web site, of the continuing repercussions of the Arab Spring uprising. As you will see, this has not been an unmixed blessing for the world’s press. Also new on the Web site is another discussion forum, this one recording the mixed reaction to Twitter’s decision to censor some postings that various governments find objectionable. I hope each member of the board will weigh in with your own reactions.
Tonight, I also ask your permission to experiment with another way to elevate the OPC presence in the world. The Press Freedom Committee wants to advertise for an intern, a graduate journalism student who can work with us to write stories about the cause for the web site and the Bulletin, to help with writing our letters, and primarily to represent the OPC on Facebook, Twitter and other social media. We see the intern as seeking out discussions about press freedom and current cases of abuse, discussing the OPC letters and positions, and posting links to our discussion forums, our letters and any relevant information. Our hope is that this will make the club and all its activities more visible and meaningful in the world of journalism.
For just one example, our intern will be able to sit at our dinner this April and Tweet it, live, while the winners are getting their awards. Because this work will demand some independent activity and can’t be constantly supervised, it’s our judgment that we need a graduate student and need to pay him or her for the work, and we ask your approval for a stipend of $500 for about four months’ work.
Respectfully submitted by:
Larry Martz, Chairman