#CommitToAct. The Barcelona City Council, the University of Barcelona and the Autonomous University of Barcelona join the Manifesto for journalists promoted by the Association Prevention of Traffic Accident – P (A) T
The Manifesto reflects on the way the media have to deal with road crashes and wants to promote a more careful and respectful approach to information with victims and their families.
The Mobility governor of the Barcelona City Council, Rosa Alarcón, the manager of the Prevention and Security area, Maite Casado, the dean of the Faculty of Information and Audiovisual Media of the University of Barcelona, Miquel Térmens, and the vice-organ of the Faculty of Communication from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Fernando Morales, have adhered to the manifesto for journalists prepared by the Association Prevention of Traffic Accident P (A) T. The director of P (A) T, Yolanda Doménech, also participated in the signing act.
The signatories undertake, within the scope of their powers, to:
– Incorporate the Manifesto for journalists P(A)T-FEVR as a framework for communication actions.
– Promote the dissemination of the manifesto.
– Participate in the work table to define good practices in communication of road crashes.
– Carry out measures that may increase the dissemination of prevention and awareness actions in relation to road crashes.
The manifesto aims to reflect on how to present the news related to road crashes and their consequences, taking into account both the situation of vulnerability of the victims and their families, as well as the need to raise awareness in society of this serious problem of public health.
On the other hand, P(A)T joins the international #CommitToAct campaign, promoted by the Global Alliance of Road Safety NGOs, of which P(A)T is a member, with the objective of achieving clear, significant commitments and specific for road safety, urging the signatory entities to commit to improving the communication of news about rad crashes to improve the coverage of information and deontology of crashes.
For its part, the Barcelona City Council has an explicit commitment to reduce crashes and victims of road crashes. In this sense, the Local Road Safety Plan establishes the objectives, indicators, areas of action and measures to improve safety. One of the measures, within the field of communication, is to carry out information and communication campaigns on road safety. The project “Improving news about road crashes” is included as one more action in this area.
Thus, both institutions P(A)T and the Barcelona City Council have decided to launch the creation of a debate space where representatives of professional entities, such as the Faculty of Information and Audiovisual Media of the University of Barcelona and the Faculty of Communication from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, future communication and administration professionals, together with P (A) T, can build together proposals for new actions aimed at improving the communication of road crashes in order to increase awareness and the prevention of road crashes.
The role of the media in addressing this issue is vital, since this news cannot and should not be minimized by the media, nor can it be reduced to a “brief” in specific situations. Reality can be explained in different ways and help society’s perception of the specific issue.
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