Boston to host 2014 Najarian Endowed Lecture on media freedom

Boston to host 2014 Najarian Endowed Lecture on media freedom

PanARMENIAN.Net - The 2014 Najarian Endowed Lecture on Human Rights at Faneuil Hall in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., will be held on Oct 23 and address the topic, “Truth to Action: Media Freedom, Protecting Human Rights Globally.”

A reception following the lecture promises to continue the discussion with the speakers, lecture leadership, and participating organizations, the Armenian Weekly reports.

Free and open to the public, the annual lecture, endowed by K. George and Carolann S. Najarian, is a public program of the Armenian Heritage Foundation, sponsor of Armenian Heritage Park on Boston’s Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.

This year’s lecture addresses the critical importance of freedom of the press in upholding human rights across the world. The focus is both about the journalists who cover the host of issues affecting human rights as well as the challenges inherent in that effort and, in many instances, the journalists’ safety and security.

Whether on the local or international level, it is reporters who protect and preserve human rights by exposing corruption, abuses to public safety, health, and the environment, and championing the wellbeing of women, children, and the disadvantaged.

Everyone has the right to seek, receive, and impart ideas without fear and interference, according to Amnesty International. Yet throughout the world, journalists, bloggers, and others face harassment and imprisonment for exercising their right to free speech… Freedom of expression is essential to the attainment of all other rights…and is closely linked to the right to hold opinions and the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

The speakers at the event are: Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, advocacy director for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPS) Courtney Radsch, Award-winning veteran journalist Ray Suarez, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Stephen Kurkjian, Award-winning journalist and editor Thomas Muncha.

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