He made the call at the News Agencies World Congress and the 16th General Assembly of the Organisation of Asia-Pacific Agencies in Baku, Azarbaijan.
“Media community together with member states has to unite in order to create safer environment for all – old and new media, reporters and freelancers, journalists and social media producers.
“Even though we have strong support of UNESCO member states, diverse and pluralistic media needs safe environment,’’ he said.
This, he said, was especially so as media freedom and freedom of expression have continued to be under siege.
According to him, a total of 827 journalists lost their lives for bringing information to the public in the last decade, thus making it an average of one casualty every five days.
He added that media professionals in general and reporters from the news agencies in particular became targets.
This, he said, was so not only because of what they reported, but also because by doing their job, they counter propaganda of extremists.
Engida explained further said that diversity and pluralism of media would enrich individual minds and collective cultural experiences with diverse opinions, narratives and information.
He maintained that news agencies remained the driving force of information exchange and media pluralism, which in turn ensures cultural and intellectual diversity.
“It encourages inter-cultural dialogue across borders and frontiers as well as strengthens freedom of expression which in turn allows us to enjoy free press and different opinions.
“We should also remember that a news agency remains a major actor in generating and sharing information,’’ he said.
He further maintained that without news agencies the right to access information legislation would not become such powerful tool to guarantee and implement freedom of information principle.
The UNESCO deputy director-general added that with the advent of internet revolution, quality journalism has been as vital as it had ever been.
He further added that the role of news media was to serve the public interest by providing reliable information and a free forum for speech.
He said that it was also to act as a watchdog in the interest of the society, especially in times of crises and conflict.
While speaking on ethical reporting, Engida said it is applying a conflict sensitive lens through awareness of the social dynamics reported on and going beyond the search for simple and inflammatory narratives.
He added that it implied scrutinising facts and figures, reporting on causes and motivations of those working to stir up antagonism as well as of those working for harmony and co-existence.
The 5th News Agencies World Congress and the 16th General Assembly of the Organisation of Asia-Pacific Agencies was attended by media professionals from more than 100 news agencies.
The three-day congress discussed the state of the media across the world.
It is also debated the role of news agencies and the conditions which enables freedom of expression to flourish.
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