Freedom of the press consists of
constitutional or
statutory protections pertaining to the
media and published materials.
With respect to governmental information, any government may
distinguish which materials are public or protected from disclosure
to the public based on
classification of information as
sensitive, classified or secret and being otherwise protected from
disclosure due to relevance of the information to protecting the
national interest. Many
governments are also subject to sunshine laws or
freedom of information
legislation that are used to define the ambit of national
interest.
Basic principles and criteria
The
Universal
Declaration of Human Rights states:
"Everyone has the right
to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom
to hold opinions without interference, and impart information and
ideas through any media regardless of frontiers"
This philosophy is usually accompanied by
legislation ensuring various degrees of freedom
of
scientific research (known as
scientific
freedom), publishing, press and printing the depth to
which these laws are entrenched in a country's legal system can go
as far down as its
constitution. The
concept of
freedom of speech is
often covered by the same laws as freedom of the press, thereby
giving equal treatment to spoken and published expression.
Besides legal definitions, some
non-governmental organizations
use other criteria to judge the level of press freedom around the
world:
- Reporters Without
Borders considers the number of journalists murdered, expelled
or harassed, and the existence of a state
monopoly on TV and radio, as well as the existence of censorship and self-censorship in the media, and the
overall independence of media as well as the difficulties that
foreign reporters may face.
- The Committee to
Protect Journalists (CPJ) uses the tools of journalism to help
journalists by tracking press freedom issues through independent
research, fact-finding missions, and firsthand contacts in the
field, including local working journalists in countries around the
world. CPJ shares information on breaking cases with other press
freedom organizations worldwide through the International
Freedom of Expression Exchange, a global e-mail network. CPJ
also tracks journalist deaths and detentions. CPJ staff applies
strict criteria for each case; researchers independently
investigate and verify the circumstances behind each death or
imprisonment.
- Freedom House likewise studies the
more general political and economic environments of each nation in
order to determine whether relationships of dependence exist that
limit in practice the level of press freedom that might exist in
theory. So the concept of independence of the
press is one closely linked with the concept of press
freedom.
Status of press freedom worldwide
Worldwide press freedom index
Every year, Reporters Without Borders establishes a ranking of
countries in terms of their freedom of the press.
The Worldwide press freedom index list
is based on responses to surveys sent to journalists that are
members of partner organisations of the RWB, as well as related
specialists such as researchers, jurists and human rights
activists. The survey asks questions about direct attacks on
journalists and the media as well as other indirect sources of
pressure against the free press, such as pressure on journalists by
non-governmental groups. RWB is careful to note that the index only
deals with press freedom, and does not measure the quality of
journalism.
In 2009,
the countries where press was the most free were Finland
, Norway
, Ireland
, Sweden
and Denmark
.
The
country with the least degree of press freedom was Eritrea
, followed by
North
Korea
, Turkmenistan
, Iran
and Myanmar 
.
Freedom of the Press
Freedom of the Press
is a yearly report by US-based non-governmental organization
Freedom House, measuring the level of
freedom and editorial independence enjoyed by the press in every
nation and significant disputed territories around the world.
Levels of freedom are scored on a scale from 1 (most free) to 100
(least free). Depending on the ratings, the nations are then
classified as "Free", "Partly Free", or "Not Free".
In 2009
Iceland
, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and
Sweden topped the list with North Korea, Turkmenistan, Myanmar
, Libya
, Eritrea at the
bottom.
Non-democratic states
According to
Reporters Without
Borders, more than a third of the world's people live in
countries where there is no press freedom. Overwhelmingly, these
people live in countries where there is no system of
democracy or where there are serious deficiencies
in the democratic process.Freedom of the press is an extremely
problematic problem/concept for most non-democratic systems of
government since, in the modern age, strict control of access to
information is critical to the existence of most non-democratic
governments and their associated control systems and security
apparatus. To this end, most non-democratic societies employ
state-run news organizations to promote the propaganda critical to
maintaining an existing political power base and suppress (often
very brutally, through the use of police, military, or intelligence
agencies) any significant attempts by the media or individual
journalists to challenge the approved "government line" on
contentious issues. In such countries, journalists operating on the
fringes of what is deemed to be acceptable will very often find
themselves the subject of considerable intimidation by agents of
the state. This can range from simple threats to their professional
careers (firing, professional
blacklisting) to
death
threats,
kidnapping,
torture, and
assassination. Reporters Without Borders
reports that, in 2003, 42 journalists lost their lives pursuing
their profession and that, in the same year, at least 130
journalists were in prison as a result of their occupational
activities. In 2005, 63 journalists and 5 media assistants were
killed worldwide.
According to the Press Freedom Index for 2007, Iran ranked 166th
out of 169 nations.
Only three other countries - Eritrea, North Korea and Turkmenistan - had more restrictions on news media freedom than
Iran. The government of
Ali
Khamenei and the
Supreme National Security
Council had imprisoned 50 journalists in 2007 and had all but
eliminated press freedom. Reporters Without Borders (RWB) has
dubbed Iran the "Middle East's biggest prison for
journalists."
Regions closed to foreign reporters
- Chechnya, Russia
- Myanmar (Burma)
- Jammu & Kashmir, India
- Papua, Indonesia
- Waziristan, Pakistan
- Tibet, People's Republic of China
- Agadez, Niger
History
Poland
Freedom of Press laws are first passed in the Commonwealth in 1532.
Sweden
The
world's first Freedom of the Press Act was introduced in Sweden in
1766.
Denmark-Norway
Between September 4, 1770 and October 7, 1771 the kingdom of
Denmark-Norway had the most
unrestricted freedom of press of any country in
Europe. This occurred during the regime of
Johann Friedrich Struensee, whose
first act was to abolish the old censorship laws. However, due to
the great amount of mostly anonymous pamphlets published that was
critical and often slanderous towards Struensees own regime, he
reinstated some restrictions regarding the freedom of press a year
later, October 7 1771.
England
The
Glorious Revolution of 1688 in
England
established
parliamentary sovereignty
over the Crown and, above all, the
right of revolution. A
major contributor to Western
liberal
theory was
John Locke. Locke argued
in
Two Treatises of
Government that the individual placed some of his
rights present in the
state
of nature in
trusteeship with the
sovereign (
government) in return for protection of certain
natural individual rights. A
social contract was entered into by the
people.
Until
1694, England had an elaborate system of licensing. No publication was allowed
without the accompaniment of a government-granted license. Fifty
years earlier, at a time of
civil
war,
John Milton wrote his
pamphlet Areopagitica. In this work Milton argued
forcefully against this form of government censorship and parodied
the idea, writing "when as debtors and delinquents may walk abroad
without a keeper, but unoffensive books must not stir forth without
a visible jailer in their title." Although at the time it did
little to halt the practice of licensing, it would be viewed later
a significant milestone as one of the most eloquent defenses of
press freedom.
Milton's central argument was that the individual is capable of
using reason and distinguishing right from wrong, good from bad. In
order to be able to exercise this ration right, the individual must
have unlimited access to the ideas of his fellow men in “a free and
open encounter." From Milton's writings developed the concept of
the open
marketplace of ideas,
the idea that when people argue against each other, the good
arguments will prevail. One form of speech that was widely
restricted in England was
seditious
libel, and laws were in place that made criticizing the
government a crime. The King was above public criticism and
statements critical of the government were forbidden, according to
the English Court of the
Star Chamber.
Truth was not a defense to seditious libel because the goal was to
prevent and punish all condemnation of the government.
John Stuart Mill approached the
problem of authority versus liberty from the viewpoint of a 19th
century
utilitarian: The individual has
the right of expressing himself so long as he does not harm other
individuals. The good society is one in which the greatest number
of persons enjoy the greatest possible amount of happiness.
Applying these general principles of liberty to freedom of
expression, Mill states that if we silence an opinion, we may
silence the truth. The individual freedom of expression is
therefore essential to the well-being of society.
Mill’s application of the general principles of liberty is
expressed in his book
On Liberty: "If all
mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and one, and only one
person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more
justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the
power, would be justified in silencing mankind".
Nazi Germany (1933-1945)
The dictatorship of
Adolf Hitler
largely suppressed freedom of the press through
Joseph Goebbels'
Ministry of
Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. As the Ministry's name
implies, propaganda did not carry the negative connotations that it
does today (or did in the Allied countries); how-to manuals were
openly distributed by that same ministry explaining the craft of
effective propaganda. The Ministry also acted as a central
control-point for all media, issuing orders as to what stories
could be run and what stories would be suppressed. Anyone involved
in the film industry—from directors to the lowliest assistant—had
to sign an oath of loyalty to the
Nazi
Party, due to opinion-changing power Goebbels perceived movies
to have. (Goebbels himself maintained some personal control over
every single film made in Nazi Europe.) Journalists who crossed the
Propaganda Ministry were routinely imprisoned or shot as
traitors.
India
The
Indian Constitution, while
not mentioning the word "press", provides for
"the right to
freedom of speech and expression" (Article 19(1) a). However
this right is subject to restrictions under sub clause (2), whereby
this freedom can be restricted for reasons of "
sovereignty and integrity of India, the security
of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order,
preserving decency, preserving morality, in relation to contempt,
court,
defamation, or incitement to an
offense". Laws such as the
Official Secrets Act and
Prevention of
Terrorist Activities Act(PoTA) have been used to limit press
freedom. Under PoTA, person could be detained for up to six months
for being in contact with a terrorist or terrorist group. PoTA was
repealed in 2006, but the Official Secrets Act 1923
continues.
For the first half-century of independence, media control by the
state was the major constraint on press freedom.
Indira Gandhi famously stated in 1975 that
All India Radio is "a Government
organ, it is going to remain a Government organ..."With the
liberalization starting in the 1990s, private control of media has
burgeoned, leading to increasing independence and greater scrutiny
of government.
Organizations like Tehelka and NDTV have been
particularly influential, e.g. in bringing about the resignation of
powerful Haryana
minister Venod
Sharma.
Italy
Russia
United States
Implications of new technologies
Many of the traditional means of delivering information are being
slowly superseded by the increasing pace of modern technological
advance. Almost every conventional mode of media and information
dissemination has a modern counterpart that offers significant
potential advantages to journalists seeking to maintain and enhance
their 'freedom of speech'. A few simple examples of such phenomena
include:
- Terrestrial television
versus satellite television:
Whilst terrestrial television is relatively easy to manage and
manipulate, satellite television is much more difficult to control
as journalistic content can easily be broadcast from other
jurisdictions beyond the control of individual governments. An
example of this in the Middle East is the satellite broadcaster
Al Jazeera. This Arabic language
media channel operates out of the 'relatively liberal' state of
Qatar
, and often presents views and content that are
problematic to a number of governments in the region and
beyond. However, because of the increased affordability and
miniaturisation of satellite technology (e.g. dishes and receivers)
it is simply not practicable for most states to control popular
access to the channel.
- Web-based publishing (e.g., blogging) vs.
traditional publishing: Traditional
magazines and newspapers rely on physical resources (e.g. offices,
printing presses) that can easily be targeted and forced to close
down. Web-based publishing systems can be run using ubiquitous and
inexpensive equipment and can operate from any global jurisdiction.
To get control over web publications, nations and organisations are
using Geolocation and Geolocation software.
- Voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) vs.
conventional telephony: Although
conventional telephony systems are easily tapped and recorded,
modern VOIP technology can employ sophisticated encryption systems
to evade central monitoring systems. As VOIP and similar
technologies become more widespread they are likely to make the
effective monitoring of journalists (and their contacts and
activities) a very difficult task for governments.
Naturally, governments are responding to the challenges posed by
new media technologies by deploying increasingly sophisticated
technology of their own (a notable example being China's attempts
to impose control through a state run
internet service provider that
controls access to the Internet) but it seems that this will
becomes an ever increasingly difficult task as journalists continue
to find new ways to exploit technology and stay one step ahead of
the generally slower moving government institutions that attempt to
censor them.
Organizations for press freedom
See also
Notes
- Zamoyski, Adam. "The Polish Way". New York: Hippocrene Books,
1987
- "The Freedom of the Press Act", Sveriges Riksdag [1]
- "The Swedish tradition of freedom of press" [2]
- "The World's First Freedom of Information Act (Sweden/Finland
1766)" [3]
- freedominfo.org, "Sweden" [4]
- Wikipedia, "Freedom of information
legislation" [5]
- Venod Sharma: The man who could have been
CM
References
External links
.
, Eritrea
(mainland only), journalists may spend years
in jail simply for using the "wrong" word or photo.
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