DAVAO CITY (October 25)–Â The two-day Mindanao Media Safety and Security Summit kicked off with calls from members of the working press in Mindanao towards security guarantee for media practitioners to “ensure a vibrant free press.”
NewsLine Philipines Publisher and Mindanao Independent Press Council (MIPC) President Edith Caduaya said the MIPC aims to adhere to the highest ethical standard of journalism. “We are not perfect, but we try to be decent, especially in the era of disinformation,” she added.
Caduaya said journalists are facing the challenge “to continue telling the truth without fear or favor.” “When a legitimate news story is commercialized and politicized, journalist safety is compromised,” she added.
The summit brought together 50 members of the working press in Mindanao.  It will run from October 25-26, 2018 at the Eden Nature Park and Resort. The concept of establishing the Mindanao Independent Press Council (MIPC) was conceived on October 8, 2017 in Berlin, Germany-during the World Publishing Expo.
On April 18, during the media safety training hosted by World Association of Newspapers (WAN-IFRA) and Reuters, media members agreed to organize themselves in a bid to ensure each other’s safety, as well as come up with a mechanism to protect journalists.
Its birth was confirmed in Portugal last June, during the World News Congress and on October 25, 2018, the MIPC Incorporated was recognized and issued a certificate of registration by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“We must agree and put our acts together in the spirit of press freedom—anchored on the real role of the press as the purveyor of truth and as the watchdog of our society,” Caduaya emphasized. – NewsLine
