INTRODUCTION
Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right as stated in Article 19 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes
freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."
In some areas of the world, however, media is greatly restricted. Usually by means of
government censorship, political strife, or lack of development, citizens are deprived
of a key form of communication and information. In turn, these people lose their
personal, civil, and political human rights. According to a 2013 report by Freedom
House, an independent watchdog organization that promotes media freedom, “the
percentage of people worldwide that enjoy a free media environment fell to its lowest
point in more than a decade.” In recent years, as media continues to expand,
censorship issues have worsened, particularly in developing countries. In many of
these countries, authoritarian regimes and restrictive governments fear new forms of
media and thus attempt to
control them.
“A cantankerous press, an
obstinate press, a ubiquitous
press must be suffered by those
in authority in order to preserve
the even greater values of
freedom of expression and the
right of the people to know.”
—Judge
Murray
Gurfein,
Pentagon Papers case, June 17,
1971
KEY TERMS
Journalism:
"Journalism is the activity of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting news and
information. It is also the product of these activities."
Journalism can be distinguished from other activities and products by certain
identifiable characteristics and practices. These elements not only separate
journalism from other forms of communication, they are what make it indispensable
to democratic societies. History reveals that the more democratic a society, the more
news and information it tends to have.
Broadcast: To send out a program on television or radio:
Watchdog journalism: Watchdog journalism informs the public about goings-on in
institutions and society, especially in circumstances where a significant portion of the
public would demand changes in response. This might involve:




Fact-checking statements of public officials
Interviewing public figures and challenging them with problems or concerns
Beat reporting to gather information from meetings that members of the public
might not otherwise attend, and to observe "on the ground" in broader society
Investigative journalism, which involves information-gathering on a single story
for a long period of time
Censorship: The suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc.
that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.
Corruption: Dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving
bribery.
Self-censorship: The exercising of control over what one says and does, especially
to avoid criticism.
Windhoek Declaration: The first international statement of free press principles
written by journalists from Africa in 1991.
GENERAL OVERVIEW
In a changing economic and technological age, media organizations are often
susceptible to cooperate with the government. This can lead to watered-down or
compromised coverage, or worse: censorship.
Increasingly, non-profit media and transparency organizations are emerging as a
critical component of the journalism landscape. Leveraging the power of the Internet,
these organizations are helping to reinvent and imagine independent watchdog
reporting.
Media freedom and access to information feed into the wider development objective
of empowering people. Empowerment is a multi-dimensional social and political
process that helps people gain control over their own lives. This can only be achieved
through access to accurate, fair and unbiased information, representing a plurality of
opinions, and the means to actively communicate vertically and horizontally, thereby
participating in the active life of the community. However, in order to make freedom of
expression a reality, there must be:



a legal and regulatory environment that allows for an open and pluralistic media
sector to emerge;
a political will to support the sector and rule of law to protect it;
laws ensuring access to information, especially information in the public domain;
and

necessary media literacy skills among news consumers to critically analyze and
synthesize the information they receive to use it in their daily lives and to hold the
media accountable for its actions.
These elements, along with media professionals adhering to the highest ethical and
professional standards designed by practitioners, serve as the fundamental
infrastructure on which freedom of expression can prevail. On this basis media
serves as a watchdog, civil society engages with authorities and decision-makers,
information flows through and between communities.
Ensuring freedom for the media around the world is a priority. Independent, free and
pluralistic media are central to good governance in democracies that are young and
old. Free media:



Can ensure transparency, accountability and the rule of law;
Promote participation in public and political discourse, and
Contribute to the fight against poverty.
An independent media sector draws its power from the community it serves and in
return empowers that community to be full a partner in the democratic process.
Background facts




Press freedom declined to its lowest point in 12 years in 2015, as political,
criminal, and terrorist forces sought to co-opt or silence the media in their broader
struggle for power.
Only 13 percent of the world’s population enjoys a free press—that is, where
coverage of political news is robust, the safety of journalists is guaranteed, state
intrusion in media affairs is minimal, and the press is not subject to onerous legal
or economic pressures.
Forty-one percent of the world’s
population has a Partly Free
press, and 46 percent live in Not
Free media environments.
Among the countries that suffered
the largest declines in 2015 were
Bangladesh, Turkey, Burundi,
France, Serbia, Yemen, Egypt,
Macedonia, and Zimbabwe.
TIMELINE OF KEY EVENTS

Pressure on journalists to display political loyalty was especially intense in Egypt,
where the state-owned outlets and nearly all private media embraced a progovernment narrative, and few dared to cross redlines on stories related to the
military, security, and the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. President Abdel Fattah
al-Sisi himself frequently convened private meetings with prominent newspaper
editors and television presenters to discuss the government’s wishes.

The Libyan media, which experienced a dramatic opening after the fall of
Mu’ammar al-Qadhafi, were caught between rival governments in Tripoli and
Tobruk in 2015, in many cases becoming little more than mouthpieces for
whichever government or affiliated militia controlled their region. Civil conflict
similarly increased media polarization in Yemen, as outlets fell into line with
either the exiled government or the Houthi rebels, and independent writers and
journalists were marginalized or persecuted. Extremist groups opposed to both
sides also took their toll.

Syria remained by far the deadliest place in the world for journalists in 2015,
according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). At least 14 were killed in
the country, and three Syrian journalists who had sought safety abroad were
assassinated in Turkey, apparently by IS. In addition to terrorizing journalists, IS
has proven adept at bypassing formal news outlets and using social media to
spread its propaganda around the world.

The murder of eight cartoonists and editors in the offices of Charlie Hebdo in
January 2015 made France second only to Syria for the total number of
journalists killed during the year. The attack also underscored the ongoing
calculations that journalists must make, even in otherwise free countries, about
the possibility of retribution for their work. Such concerns were compounded a
month later, when a gunman opened fire on a free expression event in
Copenhagen.
MAJOR PARTIES INVOLVED
Saudi Arabia
The Saudi government has progressively intensified legal repression since the Arab
Spring. Amendments to the press law in 2011 punished the publication of any
materials deemed to contravene sharia, impinge on state interests, promote foreign
interests, harm public order or national security, or enable criminal activity. In 2014,
the government issued a new anti-terrorism law and regulations that Human Rights
Watch said will "criminalize virtually any expression or association critical of the
government and its understanding of Islam." The law granted the Specialized
Criminal Court, established in 2008, the ability to hear unchallenged testimony while
the defendant or the defendant's lawyer is absent. The General Commission for
Audiovisual Media announced in April 2014 that it will monitor online and YouTube
content to ensure that Saudi contributors, among the largest audience for the online
video-sharing site, adhere to government guidelines. YouTube is used by many
Saudis to address controversial issues, such as women driving, and to document
events not covered in the media, such as the stabbing of a Canadian in a Dhahran
city mall in November 2014. Saudi Arabia also used its regional influence in the Gulf
Cooperation Council to pass restrictions that prevent media in member states from
criticizing the leadership of other member states.
Egypt
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s efforts to silence dissent and shutter outlets affiliated
with the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood have produced a media environment in
which most public and private outlets are firmly supportive of the regime. In 2015,
authorities continued to employ a variety of tools against journalists and media
outlets that strayed from officially sanctioned narratives, including legal prosecution,
gag orders, and the outright halting of operations. Dozens of journalists were
physically assaulted during the year by both security agents and civilians.
Turkey
Media freedom in Turkey deteriorated at an alarming rate in 2015. The government,
controlled by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party
(AKP), aggressively used the penal code, criminal defamation legislation, and the
country’s antiterrorism law to punish critical reporting, and journalists faced growing
violence, harassment, and intimidation from both state and non-state actors during
the year. The country held two parliamentary elections—one in June, after which the
winning parties failed to form a coalition government and another in November, in
which the AKP secured a majority of seats. The elections, as well as volatility
stemming from the Syrian conflict and the Turkish government’s renewed clashes
with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group, contributed to a sharply
polarized climate and greater political pressures on the media. The authorities
continued to use financial and administrative leverage over media owners to
influence coverage and silence dissent.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s media environment is one of the most restrictive in sub-Saharan Africa.
The government of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn continues to use the
country’s draconian antiterrorism law and other legal measures to silence critical
journalists and bloggers, though pressure abated slightly following the landslide
victory by the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in
May 2015 general elections. In addition to legal pressure, the government employs a
variety of strategies to maintain a stranglehold on the flow of information; these
include outright censorship of newspapers and the internet; arbitrary detention and
intimidation of journalists and bloggers; and heavy taxation on the publishing
process.
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan’s media environment has continually deteriorated in recent years as a
result of a government campaign to silence criticism and dissent. The authorities use
spurious charges and investigations to imprison prominent journalists, bloggers, and
freedom of expression advocates. Violence against journalists has become common,
and perpetrators generally enjoy impunity.
Iran
Iran’s media environment remains repressive. Certain topics—including criticism of
the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—are subject to long-standing redlines,
enforced in part through harsh online and offline censorship. The ruling
establishment took steps in 2015 to silence media criticism of a nuclear agreement
with the United States and other world powers. Several publications were closed or
suspended during the year, and a number of reporters were arrested and
prosecuted. Journalists practiced self-censorship, though some said the atmosphere
had improved slightly since the 2013 election of President Hassan Rouhani, who
presented himself as a moderate.
NGOs
Amnesty International (commonly known as Amnesty and AI) is a nongovernmental organization focused on human rights with over 7 million members and
supporters around the world. The stated objective of the organization is "to conduct
research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and
to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."
Reporters without Borders/ Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF), is an international
non-profit, non-governmental organization that promotes and defends freedom of
information and freedom of the press. The organization, with a head office in Paris,
France, has consultant status at the United Nations.
Reporters without Borders has two primary spheres of activity: one is focused on
Internet Censorship and the New Media, and the other on providing material,
financial and psychological assistance to journalists assigned to dangerous areas. Its
missions are to:





continuously monitor attacks on freedom of information worldwide;
denounce any such attacks in the media;
act in cooperation with governments to fight censorship and laws aimed at
restricting freedom of information;
morally and financially assist persecuted journalists, as well as their families;
offer material assistance to war correspondents in order to enhance their
safety.
PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS
The United Nations has recognized the importance of a free press since its
beginning. In 1993, it established May 3rd as World Press Freedom Day. May 3rd is
the anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration, which was a statement of free press
principles created by African newspaper journalists in 1991. The declaration was
created at a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) seminar in Windhoek, Namibia and is viewed as an important document
that has influenced the creation of similar declarations around the world and focused
international attention on the issue of press freedom. The Windhoek Declaration was
followed by the Charter for a Free Press in 1992 that began with these words “A free
press means a free people.” It went on to outline the various ways that freedom of the
press can be threatened or censored and what the writers saw as the obligation of
nation states. This document was approved by journalists from around the world at a
conference sponsored by the World Press Freedom Committee, the World
Association of Newspapers, International Press Institute, Inter American Press
Association, North American National Broadcasters Association and the International
Federation of the Periodical Press. These non-governmental groups, with the full
support of the U.N Secretary-General and UNESCO’s Director General, are at the
forefront of the fight for press freedom. Further action by the U.N is difficult due to the
tremendous resistance of some countries to do more than pay lip service to press
freedom, and the difficulty in determining if the press is truly independent or not.
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
Crowd sourcing and crowd funding, is not a new solution but for sure a promising
business model for media organizations and for individual journalists, who have
suffered the effects of the lack of freedom in media. A growing number of NonGovernment Organizations, academics and other organizations are portraying the
strong democratization of media systems as an urgent political action required to stop
and hopefully reverse the rapid loss of media freedom and by extension of
democratic rights even in fully developed countries. Increasingly, political
organizations or individuals exposing these views or promoting such goals are
aggressively ignored and attacked by media powers. For this reason, many such
group have recently understood that they have to make their own media in order to
hope to get the message out to the general public in a large scale.
USEFUL LINKS AND DOCUMENTS











http://hrw.org/doc/?t=press_freedom - Human Rights Watch page for Press
Freedom
http://www.cpj.org/ - Website of the Committee to Protect Journalists
https://rsf.org/en - Website of Reporters Without Borders
http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/index.html - American Civil Liberties Union Free
Speech page
http://usinfo.state.gov/dhr/democracy/rule_of_law/press_freedom.html - US State
Department’s Press Freedoms site
http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/press/ - United Nations documents on the free press
http://www.wpfc.org/ - World Press Freedom Committee
http://en.unesco.org/themes/press-freedom-all-platforms
http://www.un.org/en/events/pressfreedomday/background.shtml
http://www.un.org/en/events/pressfreedomday/pastobs.shtml
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/freedom-press-2016