Two days inside the World Journalists Conference

Prime Minister Boo-kyum Kim addressing the WJC2022

On Monday April 26, scores of journalists from 34 countries convened for an international conference launched in Seoul but followed online across the globe.

The World Journalists Conference, on its 10^th anniversary, tackled two themes over two days.

On the first day, Korea’s Prime Minister Boo-kyum Kim called for a new history for journalism and humankind that lights up the way to overcome all challenges that may come under the Great Transformation of Civilization.

In his message, the prime minister said that the people’s distrust of journalism that kept growing due to fake news, especially during the COVID pandemic, should never happen again.

“Preposterous claims or provocative false descriptions about vaccines were reported excitedly to increase online hits, and induced confusion to make the public uneasy,” he said.

“We all need to think about what is the right conduct for the future of our community, and what role should journalism play. I hope all the journalists at this conference will make a way to create a ‘healthy community’. We need your knowledge to be collected with the spirit of solidarity and cooperation. With that power, let’s make a new history for journalism and humankind.”

Journalists Association of Korea President Kim Dong-hoon said that journalists who share commonalities even if their countries, genders, skin colors, and ideologies are different, are working hard for freedom and peace and disseminating the truth with a warm heart and cool reasoning.

“As distrust in journalism has accelerated since COVID-19, I anticipate the space given to listen to the efforts made to eradicate ‘fake news’ in each country so that we may jointly introduce and supplement them to achieve respectable journalism,” he said.

Following the opening remarks, 30 speakers from 25 countries took the main stage physically or online and brought with them various experiences and voiced diverse views as they fostered discussions on fact checking.

On Tuesday April 27, the second day of the annual conference that has been held since 2013 without interruption, 23 journalists from 19 countries gave speeches on the theme of “A Society Changed by Journalists” and highlighted the role of journalists and how their work has influenced their societies and changed behaviors.

With journalists from as far as Paraguay and Papua New Guinea sharing country and personal experiences, views and aspirations, the success of the conference was resounding and enriching.

Journalists Association of Korea President Kim Dong-hoon

The WJC2022, a unique platform presented by the Journalists Association of Korea, was an outstanding opportunity to engage public audiences and grab attention amid a plethora of competing issues and events unfolding across the world.

The conference was also a special place for virtual reunions between old friends and meetings between new friends.

Some journalists have been regular speakers at the conference, but others made their debut and drew attention and praise for the way they addressed the international audience with aplomb.

In post-conference messages, organizers said they were already drawing up plans for the 2023 conference, hoping that the health protocols will soon ease and will permit physical participation. Calls have been issued to suggest themes that could be taken up at WJC 2023.