Freedom of the Press
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An independent media sector ensures the free flow of information that is vital in a democratic society. Using examples from many nations, the author outlines four essential roles that a free press serves: holding government leaders accountable to the people, publicizing issues that need attention, educating citizens so they can make informed decisions, and connecting people with each other in civil society. Ellen Hume is director of the Center on Media and Society at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. This article was originally published in eJournal USA, December, 2005 edition.
When one sees how the news media can challenge and expose even the
richest and most powerful leaders in the world, one might wonder, why
put up with a free press? Why not go back to the idea of a
government-controlled media, with limits on what people can say and
publish and with control over the right to assemble?
The answer is that it is impossible to maximize political stability,
economic growth, and democracy without the free flow of information.
Information is power. If a nation is to enjoy the political and
economic advantages enabled by the rule of law, powerful institutions
must be open to scrutiny by the people. If technology and science are
to advance, ideas must be openly shared.
And if government is to be valued because it is accountable to the
people, free and independent news media are essential to that process.
That is why Thomas Jefferson, the primary drafter of the American
Declaration of Independence, insisted that the U.S. Constitution
include the public's right to free speech, a free press, and public assembly.
"Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government
without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not
hesitate a moment to prefer the latter," he wrote in 1787. That is not
to say that the newspapers were kind to him when he became president.
He had his share of embarrassing exposés.
But Jefferson remained steadfast in supporting even painful scrutiny
by the media, because he recognized that without such accountability
and unfettered flow of ideas, a nation's creative growth is stunted
and its people are not free.
An independent media sector serves four vital roles in a democracy.
First, it is a watchdog on the powerful, holding them accountable to
the people. Second, it casts a spotlight on issues that need
attention. Third, it educates the citizens so they can make political
choices. Fourth, it connects people with each other, helping to create
the social "glue" that binds civil society.
HOLDING GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABLE
The watchdog function is often the hardest to perform well. Government
agencies and officials are not always willing to be transparent,
especially if there is no tradition of public scrutiny. In post-Soviet
Georgia, for example, Rustavi II television broadcast verified
investigative reports about areas of government corruption. When the
government tried to close down the television station rather than
correct the problems, citizens assembled en masse to protest. Their
demonstrations in defense of their independent media forced the
government to dismiss corrupt members of the cabinet and allow Rustavi
II back on the air.
Another example comes from India, where Bhartiya Janata Party
President Bangaru Laxman was caught on videotape by an undercover
tehelka.com Internet journalist, accepting money for what he thought
was a weapons deal. The public outcry, after the sting, forced the
ouster of several senior cabinet ministers.
Media that do an honest job of holding the government accountable can
help support the rule of law and thereby create more stability for the
country. That stability will make the country more attractive to
long-term economic investment.
"Freedom of speech and exchange of information are not just luxuries,
they are the currency on which global commerce, politics, and culture
increasingly depend," observed David Hoffman, the founder of
Internews, an international nongovernmental agency that helps train
and develop independent media in 50 countries.
PUBLICIZING ISSUES
Without a free and independent press sector, the full responsibility
for public information and safety resides only in the government. This
lack of public engagement can seriously undermine a country's security
and economic growth.
For example, the Chinese media did not report the unfolding SARS
epidemic in 2003 accurately, because they were following their
government's wishes to minimize the crisis. Thus there were no
warnings that the fatal disease was raging out of control in Beijing
and other areas. Uninformed citizens continued risky behaviors that
spread the disease. Some people started to panic as the number of
cases in their neighborhoods climbed. Tourists and the international
investment community grew jittery as well. When the independent Wall
Street Journal newspaper went from hospital to hospital in Beijing,
compiling the real numbers of SARS cases, some foreign investors lost
faith in the Chinese government's official line and started pulling
their employees out of the country. The government realized belatedly
that it needed to inform the public about the real hazards and scope
of the problem in order to stem the epidemic and restore government
credibility. In this case, the independent foreign media held the
government accountable on behalf of the people when the local media
were not allowed to do so.
EDUCATING CITIZENS
When they are able to function freely, local newspapers and radio and
television stations can be important building blocks of democracy. In
addition to serving as a watchdog on local institutions and alerting
the public to safety issues, they can help citizens understand and
access their distant government.
When the four biggest banks in Uruguay closed during an economic
crisis several years ago, for example, an elderly man in the town of
Tucuarembo telephoned a local radio station for help. His wife was
sick, and he could not get access to their bank account to pay the
doctor. Radio Zorilla producers contacted his regional legislator, who
put the man in touch with the finance ministry. The man learned that
emergency legislation was being passed to give people like him access
to their bank accounts.
It is routine for radio station producers in Tucuarembo to help
connect the people of their town to government services and to each
other. Listeners call in looking for hard-to-find books, lost dogs,
jobs, and workers. Radio Zorilla is not just a community bulletin
board and advocate with the government. It also offers newscasts,
telephone call-in discussions, and interviews, according to Maria
Martin, an American radio producer who spent time at the station and
was impressed by its success.
Citizens in Angren, Uzbekistan, have a similar local media resource, a
television station. They telephone TV-Orbita, which reports their
complaints and other town problems on the television news. The news is
watched by the authorities as well as the citizens. When the
government tried to shut down the station at one point in order to
control its political influence, the public and sponsors protested,
and the government had to let it reopen.
CONNECTING PEOPLE
Access to the local news can even save lives. When Hurricane Katrina
was bearing down on New Orleans, Louisiana, in August 2005, local
Vietnamese immigrant families were alerted by their low-power,
Vietnamese-language community radio station about where to go to reach
safety and find their Vietnamese-American neighbors.
When the Sultan Dam, two hours south of Kabul, Afghanistan, was
starting to fail on March 29, 2005, the journalists of Radio
Ghaznawiyaan called the provincial governor, who then issued a
statement on the air that all the villagers needed to evacuate. That
report reached the people before the dam broke and destroyed many of
the village's shops and houses. "I was listening to Radio
Ghaznawiyaan, and when it started to talk about the Sultan Water Dam,
I turned the volume up and I understood that we had to run," said a
resident. The quick action of the station saved many lives. Afterward
the radio station continued to link the two sides of the city that
were separated by the flood.
The World Bank tracks media openness as a positive factor in economic
and political development. In its World Development Report 2002, it
studied 97 countries and found that those with privately owned, local
independent media outlets had higher levels of education and health,
less corruption, and more transparent economies.
To be sure, the free press does not always perform professionally, and
there can be unintended consequences to opening up the media. But the
more the news media offer balanced news and community discussions, the
more the public values them. This civic information is the fuel of
democracy. The people become better educated and take more
responsibility for their own well being.
The media can act as a safety valve by offering a forum for diverse
voices to be heard. This ability to broadcast and present various
perspectives within a society is more important than one might think.
Terrorism expert Jessica Stern has noted that terrorism is often
fueled by humiliation, a feeling by people that they are not being
included in the mainstream of society or treated with respect.
As David Hoffman of Internews points out, "There is ample evidence,
from the Sandinistas of Nicaragua to the Albanian rebels in Macedonia,
that bringing opposition groups into the body politic provides
nonviolent alternatives to civil strife."
A second World Bank report, Consultations With the Poor, studied
20,000 poor people in 23 countries and found that what most"differentiates poor people from rich people is a lack of voice. The
inability to be represented. The inability to convey to the people in
authority what it is that they think. The inability to have a
searchlight put on the conditions of inequality. These people
interviewed do not have Ph.D.s but they have the knowledge of poverty,
and the first thing they talked about is not money. It is lack of
voice, it is lack of the ability to express themselves."
A vibrant media sector, with competing independent newspapers, radio,
Internet Web sites, and television, allows those voices to be heard.
These media can spotlight problems, encourage fellow citizens and
government officials to address them, and empower even the destitute
with real information. Everyone gains if the poor have a chance to
improve their lot, taking part in the opportunities afforded by free
speech, free press, and the right to assembly in democratic societies.