Free media, the lifeblood of democracy

With President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Government reportedly planning to introduce bills to restrict media freedom and impose checks on social media networks, independent analysts are warning of the repercussions because a free media is one of the pillars of democracy as it involves the people’s sovereignty, the right to information and expression.
In this context, our political leaders need to contemplate the facts and figures given by the United Nations in a statement to mark the November 2 International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. 

Headlined  Violence Against Journalists, the Integrity of Elections, and the Role of Public Leadership, the UN says ending impunity for crimes against journalists is one of the most important and complex challenges of recent times. It is an essential precondition to guarantee freedom of expression and access to information
for all citizens.
According to the UN, this year’s observance seeks to raise awareness of the main challenges faced by journalists and communicators in the exercise of their profession and to warn of the escalation of violence and repression against them. These include attacks and restrictions on the media in the context of coverage of social protests; the use of judicial mechanisms against journalists for reasons related to their journalistic work on matters of public interest; and the increase of forced exile of journalists in some countries.
The theme also seeks to give visibility to the role of safe and free media in ensuring the integrity of elections and our democratic systems. It reaffirms the obligation of States to adopt effective measures to protect the independent media strengthen institutional frameworks that combat violence and impunity, and promote media independence, sustainability and diversity.
The main event to mark this international day will take place on 2-3 November 2023 at the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington D.C. and will focus on the violence against journalists, the integrity of elections, and the role of public leadership.

Stressing that Impunity for attacks on journalists has a chilling effect on society, the UN says Latin America and the Caribbean continues to be the region with the highest number of murders of journalists, according to the 2022 United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) Director-General’s Report on the safety of journalists and the danger of impunity.
Since 1993, more than 1,600 journalists have been killed for reporting the news and bringing information to the people. In nine out of ten cases, the killers go unpunished, according to the UNESCO Observatory of killed journalists. Impunity leads to more killings and is often a symptom of worsening conflict and the breakdown of law and judicial systems.
While killings are the most extreme form of media censorship, journalists are also subjected to countless threats - ranging from kidnapping, torture and other physical attacks to harassment, particularly in the digital sphere. Threats of violence and attacks against journalists, in particular, create a climate of fear for media professionals, impeding the free circulation of information, opinions and ideas for all citizens. Women journalists are particularly impacted by threats and attacks, notably by those made online. According to UNESCO’s discussion paper, The Chilling: Global Trends in Online Violence Against Women Journalists, 73 per cent of the women journalists surveyed said they had been threatened, intimidated and insulted online in connection with their work.
In many cases, threats of violence and attacks against journalists are not properly investigated. This impunity emboldens the perpetrators of the crimes and at the same time has a chilling effect on society, including journalists themselves. UNESCO is concerned that impunity damages whole societies by covering up serious human rights abuses, corruption, and crime.
On the other hand, justice systems that vigorously investigate all threats of violence against journalists send a powerful message that society will not tolerate attacks against journalists and against the right to freedom of expression for all.

Walter Cronkite, an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years, from 1962 to 1981, says freedom of the media is not just important to democracy, it is democracy. One of the world’s greatest statesmen Nelson Mandela has said critical, independent and investigative media is the lifeblood of any democracy.