http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-southasia.asp?parentid=91998
Freedom of expression, access, and empowerment Ripan Kumar Biswas reflects on the state of journalism in 2007 The Daily Star Thursday, May 8, 2008 By Ripan Kumar Biswas WHILE celebrating the 60th anniversary of the World Press Freedom Day, like many other individuals, organisations, government agencies, and media groups, Unesco paid tribute to the courage and professionalism of the many journalists and media professionals killed and wounded while carrying out their professional activities by dedicating this day to the themes of "empowerment and access to information." "Press freedom and access to information feed into the wider development objective of empowering people by giving people the information that can help them gain control over their own lives. This empowerment supports participatory democracy by giving citizens the capacity to engage in public debate and to hold governments and others accountable," said Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of Unesco, on the eve of the World Press Freedom Day 2008. Quoting from Article 19 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, which asserts "freedom of expression is a fundamental human right," he further added that press freedom and freedom of information were the basic principles for good governance, development, and peace. There is some debate over which publication was the first newspaper because the definition of a newspaper has been flexible. In the English-speaking world, Nathaniel Butter is often credited with the creation of the first news periodical in 1622. The first newspaper in the American colonies, titled Publick Occurrences, was published in Boston, Massachusetts on September 25, 1690. (It was only published once, so it is doubtful if it can be called a newspaper.) But its contents greatly offended those in power and caused such a public uproar that it was immediately discontinued after the one issue. Publick Occurrences was the forerunner of a new time, and, in the 1700s, newspapers began to spring up in the American colonies. Today's media, with the help of technological advances, reaches more people in more places, allows people to share their opinions more readily, and allows information to flow across borders. Throughout the world, May 3 serves as an occasion to inform the public of violations of the right to freedom of expression and as a reminder that many journalists brave death or jail to bring people their daily news. But the bitter truth is, according to the end-of-year analysis of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 64 journalists were killed in 2007 in direct connection with their work, up from 56 last year while the other 22 deaths are under investigation as to whether they were work-related. This makes 2007 the deadliest year for the press in more than a decade. CPJ has recorded only one year with a higher death toll -- 1994 -- when 66 journalists were killed, many in conflicts in Algeria, Bosnia, and Rwanda. For the fifth straight year, Iraq was the deadliest country in the world for the press. Its 31 victims account for nearly half of the 2007 toll. Knowledge of empowerment is not a luxury, it's a necessity. It is not self-sustaining; it needs to be learned and passed down from generation to generation. Everyone has to know the country's founding principles, how the institutions came into being, how they work, and what the rights and responsibilities are. 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. Here's why the media is so valuable. The media is an essential component of a democratic society as access to a free, independent and pluralistic media is essential for gaining awareness of the issues that matter, both nationally and internationally. Empowerment of community members relies on access to diverse media outlets; however, several factors affect the extent to which the media can empower its citizens media variety, the existence of professional standards, and access to new technology. Since the closure of Public Occurrences, and the framing of a constitution for the National Press Club in America, on March 29, 1908 -- by 32 newspaper men to uphold freedom of expression, the media has often faced threats, intimidation, and actual violence as a direct result of their work throughout the world. These unconscionable acts impede the free flow of accurate and reliable information that underpins good governance and democracy. A democracy is only as good as the knowledge of the people who are part of it. The more the people remember the past, the better off they are, the stronger they are. The term "freedom of expression" in any constitution in the world asserts that without the free flow of information and "truth" disseminated by different media, the future of democracy would be threatened. But tests, surveys, and facts are showing the lack of freedom of expression worldwide. The decline in freedom, as reported in "Freedom in the World 2008," an annual survey of political rights and civil liberties worldwide, was reflected in reversals in one-fifth of the world's countries. Most pronounced in South Asia, it also reached significant levels in the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa. A substantial number of politically important countries whose declines have broad regional and global implications including Russia, Pakistan, Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria, and Venezuela were affected. A number of Asia's most important countries, many on the Indian subcontinent, suffered setbacks in freedom during 2007. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka all experienced downturns due to increased restrictions on civil society and, in three of the four cases, increased military activity. Declines were also noted in the Philippines, Burma, and Malaysia. Freedom of expression was being attacked in those countries. No journalist was killed for his work in 2007 in Bangladesh and there was a sharp decrease in the number of journalists physically attacked or receiving death threats or warnings from political militants or criminals, though arrests increased markedly, with almost 40 cases in 2007. While some assert that the media is now the parliament in the absence of a government formed by elections, it is very clearly guided by the existence of censorship, according to the Bangladesh Centre for Development, Journalism and Communication (BCDJC), a Reporters Without Borders partner organisation. As a commitment to remove all obstacles to press freedom, improve the conditions for independent and professional journalism, and to empower citizens to engage in public debate, no one should restrict or attack the freedom of the press or compromise the right of the news media to gather, produce, and disseminate information in secure and safe conditions. Ripan Kumar Biswas is a freelance writer based in New York. Date Posted: 5/8/2008
