FCCJ Board Election 2009, why I am a candidate !

Vote for LEGENDRE as DIRECTOR

私に投票してください！

Trust, ethics and professionalism

信頼、倫理、そしてプロフェッショナリズム

This is the poster of my campaign for the election of the Board of the Tokyo Yurakucho based FCCJ, the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan with 2000 members including 400 active journalists correspondents. "Run for the Board, you are a modernizer" my supporters say, so this is really an issue in today's Japan I'm sure. The following is my Campaign statement, any question, please call me at the press club:

"Genuinely, I am honored to have been nominated as a candidate for the FCCJ’s Board of Directors by Mr. Hirobuchi Masuhiko, former bureau chief of TV Asahi in London and New York, and Mr. Monzurul Huq, correspondent of the Daily Prothom Alo, a leading Bangladesh newspaper. Based in Japan, I cover Asia, where I work as a TV and radio correspondent and columnist for RTL.

The last couple of years I have witnessed things I never imagined at the FCCJ: Board members breaking time-honored rules, concealing facts and disregarding member and staff rights. It is no surprise that our employees were driven to the brink of striking these past few weeks.

Of course our industry is also facing difficult challenges. Information is public property, therefore the right to be informed should not exclude anyone or any group nor any aspect of economic, social, cultural or political life.

Thus, my first commitment if elected is to help the new Board to restore dignity, friendship and respect for diversity. Without these, we cannot have good governance, nor can we succeed in our basic mission, which is to “provide services to facilitate the collection and distribution of news without discrimination,” as stated in the Club’s Articles of Association.

My second initiative is to assist the President in initiating a long-term plan to retain our shadan hojin status, which is now under review. If we deviate too far from our "press" mission, we shall lose our standing.

A third objective is to reopen the Club’s committee system, in particular the Professional Activities Committee which once was open to all Regular members who wished to volunteer.

I would like to acknowledge the outstanding work of FCCJ members spanning many decades. But I understand that decisions of recent Boards and the current management undermined the confidence and trust both of members and staff.

I ask for your vote for Director at Large and I will develop policies that guarantee creativity, ethics, professionalism, trust.

Thank you very much."