2012 World Press Freedom Day: New Media tools as Change Agents
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Submitted by Idris Mabadeje on Fri, 04/05/2012 - 11:41am
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Press freedom is a logical extension of man’s inalienable right to freedom of expression. As such, it is a universal phenomenon which is guaranteed by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), which says, “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 and regardless of frontiers.” This right is equally guaranteed in the constitution of most nations of the world.
However, the universal recognition of the right to press freedom, notwithstanding, harassment, torture and even deaths of media workers in the course of carrying out their constitutionally recognized responsibilities, have remained. The recent attacks on the offices of Daily Sun, The Moment and Thisday newspapers, in Abuja and Kaduna readily come to mind.
It is the growing trend of attacks on journalists and other media workers that gave rise to the Windhoek Declaration on May 3, 1991. The conference emphasized that press freedom should be understood as necessitating pluralism and independence of the mass media. Following on the declaration and the recommendation, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed May 3 as World Press Freedom Day.
The day serves as occasion to inform citizens on the state of press freedom violations around the world; encourage and develop initiatives in favour of press freedom; and while assessing the state of press freedom, to remind governments of the need to respect constitutional commitment to press freedom. May 3 is indeed a day to show solidarity and support for the media and pressmen who are targets of intimidations, harassments and other forms of attack and to remember those journalists who lost their lives along the lines of their professional duties.
Although degree of press freedom differs from country to country, it is instructive to note that new media tools made available by developments in Information Communication Technology, especially Social Media Networks, have taken media freedom to hitherto unimaginable heights. It is amazing how this new found media freedom is causing unimaginable transformation in societies.
The unintended but inherent power of these new media tools to cause far reaching changes, even change in political order, is why the theme for the 2012 World Press Freedom Day Celebration, New Voices: Media Freedom Helping to Transform Societies, is very apt. It is unarguable that the freedom to harness the power of information and communication technologies, especially the social media played a significant role in the changes that have taken place in many Arab nations today.
This awesome power of the new media to publish without restraint readily brings to mind the advocacy of proponents of Libertarian theory of the press. To the libertarian, the press is not an instrument of government, but rather a device for presenting evidence and arguments on the basis of which the people can check on government and make up their minds as to policy. Therefore, it is imperative that the press be free from government control and influence. In order for truth to emerge, all ideas must get a fair hearing; there must be a “free market place” of ideas and information. Minorities as well as majorities, the weak as well as the strong must have access to the press…
Although, proponents of the libertarian theory may never have imagined anything like the social media, today’s social media networks best represent, to a great extent, what they had in mind, especially in terms of freedom to publish with little or no inhibitions.
The freedom to publish online with little or no inhibitions notwithstanding, it is equally becoming dangerous for online journalists, as it is for those in the traditional media, to carry on their trade without fear of harassments, attacks and even deaths. Today, the enemies of free speech are monitoring journalists, filtering online contents, and attacking news websites. Online journalists were among the 62 journalists reportedly killed in 2011.
While we use the occasion of today’s celebration to mourn those who have died, and empathize with those journalists who have suffered one form of attack or the other in the process of doing their work, it is important to remind ourselves that the right to freedom of expression as guaranteed by different laws and statutes, and much more strengthened by the internet, should not be occasion to become lewd, insensitive and unreasonable in the discharge of press’ constitutional responsibilities. Journalists, as defenders of the people’s right to accurate information, should be in the vanguard of the campaign against lies on the internet, as much as in the traditional media, by enemies of society, who deliberately misinform and thus mislead gullible information users.
The internet, as it were, makes it possible for people all over the world to post whatever information they wish, without recourse to the ethics of the profession. The facelessness or anonymity of many online information givers is what makes the new tool a double-edged sword. It is imperative to understand that, the ideal world envisioned by proponents of libertarian theory of the press, though desirable, is no doubt utopian. There is no government anywhere in the world, no matter how liberal, that will allow total and uncontrolled access and ownership of communication media without exercising some form of influence and control.
Though, as members of the fourth estate, we owe it a sacred responsibility to hold governments accountable to the people, it is also wisdom and good journalism to know when to hold back information that are capable of jeopardizing the security and wellbeing of the people we seek to serve, in line with the Social Responsibility theory of the press. We must exercise our freedom with the utmost sense of responsibility.

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