Committee Name: United Nations Correspondents Association (Journalism)

Committee Directors: Aishani M. Nanda, Anamaya Singh, Nikasha Kundra

Committee Email: uncajsmun24@gmail.com

 

Agenda

Reporting on the events of the conference by writing articles about the agendas and proceedings of the diverse committees of SMUN, and conducting press conferences while simultaneously combatting crises regarding the various global conflicts afflicting the freedom and credibility of the press today and maintaining the journalistic code of conduct.

 

Committee Plan

The committee sessions of the UNCA Journalists will be segregated into writing sessions, and crisis sessions. During writing sessions, journalists will be required to work on their assigned article submissions, whereas during crisis sessions journalists will be required to deliberate and discuss possible solutions to the crises at hand.

 

1. Agencies & Bias:
   Every journalist is allotted a news agency which becomes their portfolio for the rest of the conference. Journalists are obligated to adopt the bias of their news agency throughout reporting and committee sessions which depends on several factors such as ownership, political affiliations, and the country in which their news agency is based. Delegates are required to exhibit their understanding of their news agency’s bias in committee through article submissions as well as the arguments put forth by them during crisis discussions. Admitting one’s bias goes against the ethics of journalism hence no news agency can ever own up to being prejudiced- which provides news agencies a nuance most other portfolios lack.
    

2. Tentative Article Types:
   Over the three-day duration of the conference, journalists will be required to write a multitude of articles of various kinds, which shall be elucidated upon in the UNCA background guide. This year’s tentative article types include- Position Papers (since news agencies are akin to portfolios), Feature Pieces, Opinion Editorials, Analytical and Counter Analytical pieces, Case Studies, Press Conference Critiques, Beats, and Miscellaneous pieces (which may include Satires, Collaborative pieces, Poems, Short Stories, etc.).
    

3. Collaborative Pieces:
   Journalists in the UNCA will have a chance to create collaborative article pieces with the aid of cartoonists and photographers. Cartoonists will illustrate their caricatures based on the content of the journalists’ articles, and photographers will incorporate the photos they have captured of committee proceedings in the piece. It is important to know that the concept of ‘Collaborative Pieces’ can be embedded into any article type they are assigned to write.
    

4. Newsletter and Blog:
   The UNCA publishes three editions of the newsletter during each SMUN, each of which includes articles chosen on the basis of their proficiency. Furthermore, every submission received by the Executive Board is posted on the UNCA blog in order to ensure that all delegates can review one another's work.
    

5. Press Conference:
   Journalists have the unique opportunity to conduct press conferences where UNCA delegates get to interview and interrogate delegates of other committees. You have the power to force delegates to betray their bias while allowing your own opinions to shine through by posing interesting and difficult questions on salient issues which would leave them fearing the power of the press. Through the proceedings of the press conference, journalists are also required to gather enough information to help them draft a press conference critique and come up with well-refined pieces.
    

6. Crisis:
   UNCA Journalism possesses its own crises, in which journalists take part. These invigorating crisis sessions revolve around the idea of free and fair reporting as well as the multitude of risks a journalist may experience in their quest for truth, such as being taken hostage by a terrorist organisation. Each portfolio has the potential to uncover confidential information and the power to decide how to shape the opinions of the public. Journalists are expected to engage in debate while coming up with solutions to tackle the crisis through means of diplomacy and discussion.