"Journalists must seek and speak the truth, for we are the voice of the voiceless millions." Those words from Pakistani journalist Razia Bhatti reflect the highest goals of journalism, goals that the public and the press ought to consider around this time of year.
May 3 was the 11th International Press Freedom Day. It is a day set aside by the UN to commemorate the importance of press freedom. As Arthur Sulzburger pointed out; "Freedom of the press, or, to be more precise, the benefit of freedom of the press, belongs to everyone -- to the citizen as well as the publisher ... The crux is not the publisher's `freedom to print;' it is, rather, the citizen's `right to know.'" So it is a day not just for journalists but for everyone else too. Ensuring the people's right to know can be a dangerous profession.
According to Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), a well respected NGO, between January and March of this year worldwide, two journalists have been killed, 26 arrested, 77 held in jail and 36 threatened or harassed. Fifteen different media organizations have been banned. Also, according to RSF, of the 189 member states of the UN, 93 nations have conditions for the press that are rated either "difficult" or "very difficult." Amnesty International has stated in a recent news release that, "Journalists across the world are being targeted by governments for carrying out their legitimate investigative reporting work. Across the Asia Pacific region, Amnesty International has recorded dozens of cases of human rights abuses against journalists in recent years. Journalists have been harassed, tortured and even killed for reporting the news, and their work is often censored. Democracies and authoritarian regimes have neglected to protect the right to freedom of expression."
Here in Taiwan journalists enjoy a wide measure of press freedom although there are still incidents of government "heavy handedness" such as the search of the China Times Express (
Beyond this overt government interference there exist two other major threats to press freedom. The first is the use of both civil and criminal libel suits, both of which have a chilling effect on Taiwan's media. As Antonio Chiang (
Taiwan's archaic and confused libel laws, that allow for both criminal and civil sanctions, are an area where improvements are needed. The necessity for such legal changes has been made apparent in Vice President Annette Lu's (呂秀蓮) suit against The Journalist (新新聞) magazine.
Although the vice president's suit is, in my analysis, largely a kind of childish soap opera, the legal proceedings are serving to illustrate the flaws in Taiwan's libel laws. The other major threat to press freedom comes not from the government, nor from the legal environment; it is the threat posed by organized and "disorganized" crime. The criminal element uses a kind of "carrot and stick" approach to journalists. In many cases criminals will have journalists "on a retainer," which is a polite way of saying "on their payroll." That is the "carrot approach."
The "stick approach" is where the criminal element will threaten a journalist who is somehow interfering with their plans. Either approach has an obvious negative effect on freedom of the press.
On International Press Freedom Day we should consider how best to strengthen the freedom of the press we enjoy here in Taiwan. A strong, responsible and free press is a necessity for Taiwan's democracy to flourish.
Brian Kennedy is an attorney who writes and teaches on criminal justice and human rights issues.
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