Aidan White is a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. He is the founder (2012) of the

Ethical Journalism Network The Ethical Journalism Network (EJN) is an organisation created to 'strengthen the craft of journalism and to promote for the public benefit high ethical standards in journalism' was created in 2011 to strengthen journalism in the face of crisis. A ...

, a global campaign promoting self-regulation,

good governance Good governance is the process of measuring how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources and guarantee the realization of human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption and with due regard for th ...

and ethical conduct in media. He was the

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

of the

International Federation of Journalists The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is the largest global union federation of journalists' trade unions in the world. It represents more than 600,000 media workers from 187 organisations in 146 countries. The IFJ is an associate ...

from 1987 until April 2011. He previously worked for several newspapers in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. He was with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

prior to joining the IFJ. He is a long-time campaigner for journalists' rights and is a former activist with the

National Union of Journalists The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union for journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and has 38,000 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Structure There i ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. In 2021 he was made a Member of Honour of the union. He was born in the Creggan area of Derry City in Northern Ireland in 1951. His recent publications include ''Journalism, Civil Liberties and the War on Terror'' (2006), ''Making a World of Difference: the Story of Global Unions''(2006) and ''To Tell You the TRUTH: the Ethical Journalism Initiative'' (2008). In 1999 White led internationa
media criticism of the NATO
bombing of Radio Television Serbia (RTS) in which 16 media staff were killed claiming that this would lead to targeting of media in other conflicts
In 2002 the IFJ welcomed
the imprisonment of a government official for failing to evacuate the RTS building despite warnings of an imminent military strike. "Warnings were given and they were blatantly and recklessly ignored," said White. In late August 2009 White criticized the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...

for hiring the

Rendon Group The Rendon Group is a public relations firm headed by John Rendon. History John Rendon John Rendon began his career in Democratic Party politics with George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign. He later served as the Executive Director and Po ...

profile Profile or profiles may refer to: Art, entertainment and media Music * ''Profile'' (Jan Akkerman album), 1973 * ''Profile'' (Githead album), 2005 * ''Profile'' (Pat Donohue album), 2005 * ''Profile'' (Duke Pearson album), 1959 * '' ''Profi ...

journalists who wrote about the war on terror. He wrote: White is the former chair of the Appointments Panel of the UK independent press regulator IMPRESS, and a former member of the Board o
Statewatch
He has also served as Honorary President of the journalism ethics charity MediaWise and as a contributing editor and adviser to the Media Diversity Institute He is also one of the 25 leading figures on the Information and Democracy Commission launched by

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...

References

External links

Ethical Journalism Network

International Federation of Journalists
1951 births Living people British male journalists {{UK-journalist-stub