It creates more opportunities for us to hear other viewpoints or new information, and gives each of us the chance to impart our own opinions and understandings to others. Corruption, patronage, embezzlement, a quite regrettable weekend in Ibiza – it’s often the case that we learn of misdeeds by our representatives or other authorities only thanks to a society that protects freedom of the press.Īnd, of course, we want to discuss all this. As it’s not beholden to the government or other entity, or working in fear of them, a free press can give unvarnished reporting on politicians and others. I agree to Liberties' Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Īnother function of a free press is that of a watchdog. And then they have to have a fair picture of what happens next - how the elected politicians or other decisions taken with the ballot worked out. That’s because democracy’s strength rests in the hands of the people, meaning they have to be knowledgeable and informed in order to make the right decisions when they go to vote. Simply put, you can’t have much of a democracy without a free press. Why is freedom of the press so important? Its duty, in fact, is often to investigate people of power, and especially the government, to ask the hard questions and to attempt to uncover what’s really happening, regardless of the political fallout. The purpose of a free press is to ensure that the people are free to receive and impart information that is not manipulated or serving a particular person, entity or interest. In Europe, a free press is protected under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and under Article 11 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Today, most democracies have some protection for a free press, whether this protection comes from a constitution or individual law. “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 regardless of frontiers.” Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights codifies it along with the right free speech: In modern history, a shared understanding of the principle of a free press was outlined by the United Nations in 1948.
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