Journalists — the true unsung heroes of society
ON Tuesday this week, Fiji joined the world in celebrating World Press Freedom Day.
This year’s theme was “Journalism Under Digital Siege”, aimed at highlighting the many ways in which surveillance and digitally mediated attacks endanger journalists and journalism.
The United Nations says surveillance could easily expose information gathered by journalists and compromise the principle of source protection, which is universally considered a prerequisite for freedom of the media and is enshrined in UN resolutions.
“Surveillance may also harm the safety of journalists by disclosing sensitive private information, which could be used for arbitrary judicial harassment or attack,” the UN says.
In line with this year’s theme, there is a growing global agenda to demand more transparency regarding how internet companies exploit citizens’ privacy data.
In this regard, there have been many global conversations on how this data could inform predictive models and artificial intelligence, and enable the amplification of disinformation and hatred in society.
This underpins the Windhoek+30 Declaration of 2021 which called on technology companies to “work to ensure transparency in relation to their human and automated systems”.
The most momentous event so far this year has been the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
This year’s commemoration of World Press Freedom Day, therefore, provides the opportunity to spare a thought for journalists who operate under authoritarian regimes, under restrictive laws and in a climate of fear.
The Vatican News this week reported the Pope paying tribute to journalists who have “lost their lives in the service they offer covering world events for us”, recalling that last year 47 journalists were killed and more than 350 imprisoned globally.
The Pope thanked journalists “who courageously inform us about the scourges of humanity”.
CNN pointed out that the war in Ukraine, including the killing of journalists across the war zone and the anti-journalism restrictions and prosecutions in Russia, should be at the forefront of everyone’s minds.
So too should the multitude of acts of violence, arrests and threats against the lives of media professionals in other countries.
By mid-April, the national union of journalists in Ukraine reported that at least 20 journalists from around the world had been killed during Russia’s seven-week war in the country.
The union said the war spared no one and took the lives of “soldiers, civilians, media workers”.
Threats to the freedom of journalists and media workers grow each day. From corruption to climate change, human rights abuses and the COVID-19 pandemic, they face increased politicisation of their work and persistent attempts to silence them.
But the threats, atrocities and unfair treatment against journalists and the media organisations they represent are not happening in authoritarian regimes alone.
They’re also happening in countries under democratic rule, which have regular elections, written constitutions and human rights laws.
In fact, over the past decade, the state of media freedom has depreciated throughout the world.
And despite having democratic and legal safeguards, we find that the fundamental right to seek and disseminate information through an independent press is often under attack in one way or another.
In Fiji, we find this to be true. We hear comments that denigrate journalists and the work they do.
But the source of this assault is not necessarily members of the public who consume the information we disseminate on a daily basis but politicians that we elect into the legislature to defend our very freedoms and rights.
It is disturbing to hear politicians make consistent and explicit attempts to stifle the voice of criticism and reason.
Nothing is ever done through a physical threat that is direct and visible, but subtly through laws and policies that are passed through legal means. Engineered strategically to hamper the work of journalists to the extent that they are unable to effectively hold leaders accountable.
The media and journalists fall victim too when political leaders make more nuanced efforts to compromise their independence.
Independent watchdog organisation, Freedom House, says some common methods used in countries considered democracies to subvert media independence include government-backed ownership changes, regulatory and financial pressure, and public denunciations of honest journalists.
“Governments have also offered proactive support to friendly outlets through measures such as lucrative state contracts, favourable regulatory decisions, and preferential access to state information. The goal is to make the press serve those in power rather than the public,” Freedom House says.
This sorry erosion in press freedom is influenced by what experts believe is a global decline in democracy itself and a breakdown of democratic institutions and principles.
But despite these threats and interference, journalists and the media are encouraged to be fearless.
For if they fail in their duty as purveyors of truth and defenders of freedom and justice, then democracy weakens and the people will perish.
In a statement National Federation Party leader Professor Biman Prasad urged journalists to be fearless and amplify the truth and voice of the people at all times.
He added that it was critically important for the media to be impartial.
UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, on World Press Freedom Day, said “shine a spotlight on the essential work of journalists and other media workers who seek transparency and accountability from those in power, often at great personal risk”.
May 3 is not just a day to attend cocktails and toast over beer. It is a day that reminds governments, politicians and civil servants of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom.
Furthermore, it is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics.
Despite, the frequent attacks on journalists and the media, citizens and communities that depend on them must believe that moments of threats and violence cannot remain that way forever.
Experience has shown, that press freedom can bounce back from drawn out moments of oppression, no matter how adverse and relentless they may be.
Hence, when opportunities present themselves, we must desire and demand democratic liberties, and ensure they are protected and defended at call cost.
A litany of lies and moments of suppression can be swept under the carpet and forgotten, but not moments of truth and justice, when their times come.
Today, 30 years after the World Press Freedom Day was first established, the historic connection made between the freedom to seek, impart and receive information and the public good remains relevant today just as it was at the time of its signing.
Why?
The answer is simple, unlike lies and fallacies, the truth can never be extinguished.