Socio-Strategic Review: Al Jazeera

Freedom of Press

R Srinivasan

Two centuries ago, Thomas Jefferson said “If a nation expects to be ignorant & free, in a state of civilisation, it expects what never was & never will be. The functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty & property of their constituents. There is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves; nor can they be safe with them without information. Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe[1].”

Freedom of the Press is a pillar that holds the citadel of democracy aloft. Together with a fair judiciary, democracy in a country can survive when these two pillars hold its platform. The noble ideals of freedom of expression are enshrined in Article 19 (1) of the Indian Constitution. While Art 19 (1) does not specifically refer to freedom of press, it enjoins freedom of speech and expression. In his debate while tabling the draft constitution in the Indian parliament, Dr BR Ambedkar is stated to have said that under this Article, an individual or citizen or the press enjoys this freedom; therefore a separate provision for the press is not necessary. While adjudicating two of the hallmark cases[2] on press freedom, the Supreme Court of India in 1950, held that “Freedom of speech and of the press lay at the foundation of all democratic organization, for without free political discussion no public education, so essential for the proper functioning of the process of popular government, is possible”.

Studying over 200 countries to construct a methodology to evaluate good governance (Worldwide Governance Indicators-WGI), Koffman & Kray[3] came out with six parameters. The first among them was Voice and Accountability, including a free media. World Bank since 1999, has been using the six indicators developed by Koffman & Kray to assess a country’s eligibility for development assistance.

Beginning with the philosophy expounded by Thomas Jefferson to the economic indicators developed by World Bank, it is evident that freedom of the press is an implicit requirement for a democracy to remain a democracy and also to obtain the end-purpose of a democratic system – development of a healthy political society.

Seen from these perspectives, the editorial in Indian Express today (13 June 2019) draw attention to the necessity for any democracy to evaluate the approach of its institutions towards the press. Even USA, although the oldest democracy in the world, has been accused of journalistic restrictions. Elsewhere, as in Egypt where for two years Al Jazeera[4] has mobilized public opinion against the imprisonment of its correspondent. Former communist bloc countries in any case never enjoyed any good word on journalistic freedoms. In the report of the Reporters without Borders for 2018, Norway ranks as 1^st, UK 40^th, USA 45^th, Japan 67^th, France 33^rd, India ranks 138^th and China 176^th, out of 180 countries[5]. While such surveys may not be the final determinants of freedom of press, they certainly indicate the long way that we need to go before people can actually consider themselves free – from fear of expression.

Is journalistic freedom without limits? Bernard Shaw famously said, “Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it”. United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is considered to be the mother document of all freedoms in international parlance. Eleanor Roosevelt, the First Lady of United States when FDR was the president, is considered the foremost inspirations behind UDHR. She made an eloquent statement about freedom when she said: “Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect”. It is evident from these statements that freedom of the press also comes with a responsibility – the responsibility towards the society. The Supreme Court of India, while delivering its judgment on Harijai Singh & Anr vs In Re: Vijay Kumar on 17 September, 1996, made an important statement. It said, “The freedom of Press is regarded as ‘the mother of all other liberties' in a democratic society. Further, the importance and the necessity of having a free press in a democratic Construction like ours was immensely stressed in several landmark judgments of this Court. The case of Indian Express Newspaper v. Union of India[6], is one of such judgments rendered by Venkataramiah, J. (as he then was). Again in another case of Indian Express Newspaper v. Union of India[7]. A.P. Sen J. (as he then was) described the right to freedom of the press as a pillar of individual liberty which has been unfailingly guarded by the Courts”. Having upheld the freedom of the press as fundamental to democracy, the Supreme Court in Y.V. Hanumantha Rao v. K.R. Pattabhiram and Anr[8], debated trial by media. Commenting on the limits to freedom of press, it observed:

“ …… When litigation is pending before a Court, no one shall comment on it in such a way there is a real and substantial danger of prejudice to the trial of the action, as for instance by influence on the Judge, the witnesses or by prejudicing mankind in general against a party to the cause. Even if the person making the comment honestly believes it to be true, still it is a contempt of Court if he prejudices the truth before it is ascertained in the proceedings. To this general rule of fair trial one may add a further rule and that is that none shall, by misrepresentation or otherwise, bring unfair pressure to bear on one of the parties to a cause so as to force him to drop his complaint or defence. It is always regarded as of the first importance that the law which we have just stated should be maintained in its full integrity. But in so stating the law we must bear in mind that there must appear to be ‘a real and substantial danger of prejudice.”

It is evident that the stated legal position and the intellectual disposition is clear: Freedom of Press comes with conditions that aim to strengthen citizens’ right to information. At the same time, the reporting by the press should adhere to moral and ethical standards that do not in any manner adversely affect the moral, social and political health of the society. The Ethical Journalism Network[9] summarizes the responsibilities of the press into five principles: Truth & Accuracy, Independence, Fairness & Impartiality, Humanity and, Accountability. Simple as they may sound, these five principles are the essence and will remain the foundations of Freedom of Press.

[1] The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, Volume 9: 1 September 1815 to 30 April 1816

[2] Romesh Thaper vs State of Madras, A.I.R. 1950 SC 124; Brij Bhushan vs State of Delhi, A.I.R. 1950 SC 129; 1950 SCR 605.

[3] http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/pdf/wgi.pdf

[4] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/al-jazeera-mahmoud-hussein-marks-years-egyptian-prison-181223084527884.html

[5] https://rsf.org/en/ranking/2018#

[6] 1985(1) SCR 641

[7] AIR 1986 SC 872

[8] AIR1975 AP 30

[9] https://ethicaljournalismnetwork.org/who-we-are/5-principles-of-journalism