Attacks on journalists an assault on free press
THE TORRENT of abuse hurled at journalist Karima Brown and members of the media are acts of crass political hooliganism.
The importance of free speech and expression as a valuable characteristic in a democratic society cannot be underestimated. In their efforts to provide the public with information about controversial, yet important, events, journalists in South Africa face constant intimidation, sometimes brutal deadly assaults, which constricts their ability to convey truthful information about cardinal and pivotal issues.
It was Sir Winston Churchill who in 1949 offered these profound words: “A free press is the un-sleeping guardian of every other right that free men prize; it is the most dangerous foe of tyranny. Under dictatorship the press is bound to languish. A vigilant press will continue to be the fourth estate, the vigilant guardian of the rights of the ordinary citizen.”
When the public’s right to know is threatened, and when the rights of free speech are in jeopardy, all other liberties that we hold dear are endangered. We must never yield to any attempt that seeks to destroy, by means of mob violence,the right of conscience, the freedom of opinion, and of the press.
Section 16 (1)(a) of the constitution of South Africa guarantees “the right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom of the press and other media”. The right to freedom of expression upholds the rights of all to express their views and opinions freely. It is essentially a right which should be promoted to the maximum extent, possibly given its critical role in democracy.
It is the means by which people receive factual information, which is essential to intelligent self-governance, that is, democracy. Freedom of expression is a concept that defines a specific liberty or a specific way of exercising liberty. Nobody should interfere with others’ freedom to act as they please.
There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. There is only one basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences. The sine-qua-non of a democratic society is the freedom of expression. Our freedom to express our views is sacrosanct. The United Nations had declared May 3 as World Press Freedom day.
When a free press is imperilled, muzzled or banned altogether every other freedom is limited too, and democracy itself is threatened. It was Thomas Jefferson who said “our liberty depends on the freedom of the press and cannot be limited without being lost”. Freedom of the press should be sacrosanct unless one lives in a totalitarian state.The attacks on our journalists is nothing less than a full assault on the basic principles of press freedom.