KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 09

Chairperson of Media Action Nepal (MAN) Laxman Datt Pant has been elected to co-lead a key global network to defend and promote press freedom across the world.

Elections of the Media Freedom Coalition-Consultative Network (MFC-CN), consisting of 22 organizations from different countries, held to elect a vacant co-chair yesterday (February 8, 2022) elected Pant to the influential global post.

The MFC-CN is a group of national, regional and international organizations that provides advice to the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC), a partnership of countries working together to advocate for media freedom and safety of journalists and hold to account those who harm journalists for doing their job.

With this, MAN Chairperson Pant, an internationally acclaimed media scholar and trainer as well as a fighter for press freedom, joins two other co-chairs Silvia Chocarro of Article 19 and Rachael Kay of IFEX to coordinate MFC-CN activities globally and represent the network in global meetings that MFC organizes to defend media freedom.

Commenting on his elections, Pant said, 'Being the new-chair comes with great responsibility. At a time when press freedom is under increasing attack in many countries including Nepal, we must collectively do everything we can to defend it.' 'We need bold actions to promote media freedom where it is under attack. For that, I will work together with other co-chairs and members MFC-CN as well as with other like-minded organizations and individuals to better coordinate our actions and increase effectiveness.'

Members of MFC-CN are ARTICLE 19, International Federation of Journalists, International Press Institute, Reporters sans Frontières, Association of International Broadcasting, World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, The Guardian, International Media Support, Committee to Protect Journalists, Public Media Alliance, Internews Europe, IFEX, South East European Network for Professionalization of Media and Media Monitoring Africa. The other eight members are MAN, Free Press Unlimited, Cambodian Center for Human Rights, Pakistan Press Foundation, Comité por la Libre Expresión, DW Akademie, Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa and Maharat Foundation.

Last month, MAN, a media rights advocate and research organization working across Nepal and also in South Asia, was selected as a member of MFC-CN. 'This new global responsibility has made me personally and MAN further committed to work everything in our capacity to promote press freedom and improve safety of journalists,' Pant added.