Following his speech delivered at the launching ceremony:
“I am very honoured to have been invited by the Association to this event and I would like to pass on you warm greetings on behalf of the IFJ and its 150 member unions worldwide to you, and to all the Bahraini journalists… You all need and deserve our solidarity.
“This conference could not come at a more historic time for journalists here in Bahrain and in the wider Arab world, still staggering from a spring that, in many cases, turned into a … winter where a mix of uprisings, social conflict and ancient prejudice continue to breed intolerance and community strife.
“Momentous events are unfolding around us and there is a great weight of public responsibility upon journalists to deliver stories and messages that help people better understand what is happening in their lives.
“We are all going through an age when ethical and quality journalism is needed more than ever before.
“Journalists all over the world have to confront new challenges where the very model of journalism that has served us well for more than a century is changing beyond recognition. Converging technologies have changed the way journalists work and previously profitable market models no longer deliver rich returns. As a result, media corporations started cutting back on costs, creating precarious workplaces where high standards of journalism are increasingly difficult to achieve, putting pressure on ethical principles.
“The launch of a code of ethics is a major keystone that your Association has achieved today – to stand up for the virtues of journalism based upon social responsibility and values, making every journalist individually responsible for maintaining standards in his or her own work.
“Journalists and their unions also understand that it is not enough to have freedom of expression. Unless media work within an ethical framework, journalism will never succeed in its mission to inform citizens. Ethics we believe are not marginal to the future of journalism; they are the key to its survival.
“This is why an initiative like this one should not be seen just as a theoretical exercise, but as a set of coherent and practical strategies for development.
“Launching a code of conduct is excellent news and the IFJ congratulates you for the effort in this. But it has to be complemented.”