World Press Freedom Day

Yesterday was World Press Freedom Day, a day marked by the United Nations with an awards ceremony. The UN news release of the event and this report both note that 2005 was a record year for journalist deaths. The high number was due, in large part, to the situation in Iraq; in the past three years since the U.S. invasion, over 70 journalists have been killed there. Here's part of Kofi Annan's statement about the annual Freedom Day:

On World Press Freedom Day, I again declare my firm support for the universal right to freedom of expression. Many members of the press have been killed, maimed, detained or targeted in other ways for pursuing that right in good conscience. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 47 were killed in 2005, and 11 have lost their lives so far this year. It is tragic and unacceptable that the number of journalists killed in the line of duty has become one of the main indicators of press freedom. I urge all governments to reaffirm their commitment to the right to “seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”, as set out in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It's difficult to remember that the UN is a broad, multifaceted conglomerate of organizations and bodies that has been in a constant state of evolution since it was formed at the end of World War II. The UN was originally concieved as a world body and forum that was meant to prevent another catastrophic, multi-state World War. Something I take for granted -- something that was a revolutionary concept several decades ago -- is the notion that security doesn't simply mean military security or security from imperial tyranny. World security now means security from poverty, disease, environmental degredation, discrimination, and so on.

One of the recurring themes at the event marking the World Press Freedom Day, was that there is a link between press freedom, democracy, security, and poverty. To be fair, the studies that have been done on this are limited. Certainly, there is a direct link between press freedom and democratic societies. It's easy to understand that an open democratic country such as Finland would have a very robust press, whereas Burma's press -- whatever that may be -- enjoys very little freedom. And there's evidence to suggest that it's more than a chicken and egg dilemma. Growing press freedom has a tendency to erode authoritarian and totalitarian governments.

The connection between poverty and limited press freedom is more tenuous. Singapore, for example, scores very low on the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, lower than Russia, but it has a standard of living on par with the most industrialized countries. On the other hand, Mali scored higher on the Index than Spain, Italy or the U.S., but has an annual GDP per-capita of $1,000. But the correlation between press freedom and poverty is an interesting one that warrants thought and investigation.

All that may seem like splitting hairs, so what's important is to remember that while we argue about balanced reporting, or which journalists have liberal or conservative biases, or who's spinning what for whom, journalists are risking their lives around the world. As Press Freedom Day passes, remember that there are journalists who die while trying to find truthful information that they can share with the rest of us.

Click Here for the Reporters Without Borders main website.