Globe International, a Mongolian NGO has organized a seminar “Defamation and Censorship” on February 9, 2010 at Puma Imperial Hotel.  In total, 32 participants representing media, journalists, lawyers and NGOs attended the seminar.  

The organizers presented two reports on the nation-wide surveys;

                   1) Survey among 215 journalists 

                2) Study on defamation cases heard by the Mongolian courts in 2008.

Audio handbook for journalists “If You Face Legal Problems” produced by Globe International was also presented at the seminar. The twenty-minute audio handbooks for journalists on four topics: Access to public information, demand to repeal confidential information sources, attacks and defamatory legislation educates journalists on legal safety and types of editorial and political censorship and provides lawyer’s practical tips on how journalists to act, if they have the problems in exercising their professional rights. The audio books designed for self-learning and produced as series of case-based mini-stories with lawyer’s commentary. 

Seminar participants discussed issues of editorial and economic censorship, and self-censorship. They also raised journalism ethical issues and media self-regulation. The survey results show that editorial and self-censorship are very high among journalists.  Participants stressed that protection of journalists professional rights high importance. 

Mr. G.Erdenebat, legal adviser to the Mongolian President answered questions of journalists concerning a new draft law on Media Freedom which is supposed to provide more freedom to media and increase its responsibility. Journalists expressed their concerns that they rights would be restricted by intention making media more responsible. They agreed media self-regulation is important to safeguard independence, but it should not be legally compulsory. 

The event was a part of the project “Defamation and Censorship” aimed to contribute to the dispensation of justice and democratization in Mongolia by protecting the rights of journalists to practice their profession, being implemented with financial support of the US Embassy in Ulaanbaatar.  The project objectives were to conduct analysis on the court cases of defamation against media and journalists, educate the journalists on avoiding the legal violations and defending them from the legal problems and reinforce discussions on how defamatory legislation and use of the defamation laws affect the journalists’ rights’