In an attempt to set principles governing electronic media in Lebanon, over a dozen news websites launched a Charter of Honor for Electronic Websites Wednesday. At least 23 websites signed the charter at the Press Federation in the presence of officials including Information Minister Ramzi Joreige and MP Hasan Fadlallah, who chairs Parliament’s Media and Telecommunications Committee.
The 10-article charter was produced after a series of committee meetings which included representatives of the websites.
“The Information Ministry, at the beginning, chose a group of websites that it considered important ones in the country, that have many visitors or are widely known, and asked them to meet,” Michel Kanbour, founder and general manager of Lebanon Debate, told The Daily Star.
“We met and we created this Charter of Honor in order to organize, in an acceptable way, our way of daily work.”
The charter targeted professional websites that deal with political news – those that have an editor-in-chief, director, employees, minimum number of hours of news coverage, and an identifiable headquarters, Kanbour explained. A number of websites who did not meet these requirements opted to attend and sign the charter as well.
The surge in the number of news websites over the past couple of years has led to complaints of chaos, largely due to discrepancies in the factual information they provide.
The charter sets out a series of principles that signatories are expected to commit to, such as adhering to industry norms governing journalistic work and professional ethics.
The document, which was released to the media, focused on the circulation of news, particularly sensitive issues. It stated that outlets must respect individuals’ identities and carefully check their facts before the names of victims are published.
The signatories should also abstain from publishing pictures and videos that could be perceived as disrespectful to victims.
According to the charter, news websites are expected to deal responsibly with matters that have to do with the country’s stability, and refrain from addressing security or judicial affairs in a manner that could affect it.
It also called on outlets to respect intellectual property rights and copyright law and properly attribute published material.
An important issue for many of the websites’ founders and representatives is to be dealt with as real media institutions.
“Especially because electronic websites have become some of the most important media institutions, and are being depended on for transferring and distributing news in Lebanon,” Hicham Yehia, a representative of the Al-Anbaa electronic magazine, told The Daily Star.
He added that the main purpose of the charter is to elevate electronic media in Lebanon, in order to prompt Lebanese officials to deal with it as they do with other media sectors.
“It is unjust to continue dealing with electronic websites as if they are of a lower degree than other media institutions,” Yehia explained.
“There is also a push for the employees at the electronic websites to have a journalistic immunity, like [they do at other] institutions.”
This stance was echoed by Kanbour, who explained that outlets are working for the formation of a legal framework that would protect their rights and those of their employees.
“The Charter of Honor ... doesn’t at all replace legislative provisions that [would], at a minimum, organize this new media sector, in order to protect and safeguard it from any defects in performance,” Joreige said.
“From here ... the Information and Telecommunications Committee ... [is working] to customize a whole chapter for professional electronic websites in the new media draft law.”
A new draft law is being finalized by the committee for consideration in Parliament. “The law [would] protect the outlets and those working in them,” Fadlallah said. “And when the websites are categorized as recognized professional media outlets per the law, there will be rights and duties for the outlets and their employees.”
By Ghinwa Obeid
