The recent history of the world is peppered with instances where the voice of people became that much stronger thanks to intrepid journalists.
Whether it was the upholding of human rights and liberty, the quest to ensure good governance and rule of law or the highlighting of injustices and corruption, journalists have risked a lot to put the message across loud and clear, some even paying the ultimate price.
“I urge all governments to do everything in their power to support a free, independent and diverse media. Free and independent journalism is our greatest ally in combating misinformation and disinformation.”
That heartfelt appeal by UN Secretary-General António Guterres was made in his message for World Press Freedom Day at the beginning of this month. The theme chosen this year was ‘Information as a public good’.
Joseph Stiglitz, American economist, public policy analyst and winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, also spoke about information as a public good on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communicaton last November.
“Information is a public good... And as a public good, it needs public support,” he said. The free and diverse media, he said, has to be strengthened through public support. Good information is necessary for the functioning of a strong democratic state, the Columbia University professor stressed.
Against this backdrop, the efforts being made within the European Union to protect and strengthen the media assume even more relevance.
In a letter to European Commission Vice President Věra Jourová a year ago, a group of MEPs, including Roberta Metsola and David Casa, pointed out that silencing public debate, and watchdogs, is detrimental to a democratic state and a democratic union. At a time of increasing pressure on the free and independent media, an effective European answer is imperative to solving this problem, they added, calling for a legally binding instrument to deter SLAPP law suits.
Things seem to be moving and, the other day, Metsola, as co-rapporteur on a new legislative effort to prevent such suits against EU media, insisted that Europe must provide cover for journalists who find themselves caught in the SLAPP crossfire.
“Freedom for journalists to do their job cannot be uncoupled from democracy. Protecting journalists means protecting our way of life”, she insisted.
But, of course, it is not just lawsuits intended to cripple them that are of serious concern to journalists. Physical danger, funding problems, pressure to reveal sources, seemingly licit orders banning the publication of certain information, and the never-ending battle against fake news are among the more pressing and stifling concerns facing the free and independent media.
UNESCO highlighted three main areas it feels need to be addressed to ensure access to and dissemination of information: efforts to support the economic viability of news media; ways to ensure internet companies are transparent; and the enhancement of media and information literacy, enabling citizens to recognise, value, defend and demand journalism as a vital part of information as a public good.
Perhaps the laudable efforts being made to address SLAPP suits at EU level can be complemented by a comprehensive review of the overall situation faced by the free and independent media, setting the highest standards possible but proclaiming them as the minimum expected from member states.
That would, no doubt, serve the public good.