UN press corps revolts against security council sanctions

The U.N. Correspondents' Association (UNCA), which represents the interests of over 200 full-time journalists covering the world body, has lashed out at the Security Council for proposing new restrictions on the press corps - presumably for "safety reasons". In a renewed attack on the most powerful political body at the United Nations, UNCA president Giampaolo Pioli said Thursday the new rules are "unacceptable, demeaning and would amount to nothing less than an unprecedented assault on the freedom of the press at the United Nations under the guise of 'safety' measures". This is the second time that UNCA has protested restrictions imposed on the press corps. In Thursday's letter of protest, UNCA directly responded to a memo from the U.N. Media and Accreditation Liaison Unit outlining a new set of guidelines the Security Council would like to impose on the U.N. press corps. The guidelines not only spell out how reporters would encounter or follow delegates in the corridors but also when they should leave a "closed off area" and up to what point they can continue their conversations with delegates and ambassadors.