Freedom of the press

Transcript

Journalists serve the public by gathering, verifying, and reporting information that people need in order to control their own lives. Freedom to seek and report true information is essential to liberty and democracy. It's so important, in fact, that in many places journalism is very dangerous. Many journalists have made great sacrifices to gather and report news. Quite a few have even given their lives to make information available to the public.

Reporters Without Borders is a nonprofit organization that promotes freedom of the press throughout the world. In their free publication, Press Freedom in 2006, they report some depressing facts. In 2006, 81 journalists and 32 media assistants were killed, at least 871 were arrested, 1,472 were physically attacked or threatened, 56 were kidnapped, and 912 media outlets were censored. Obviously, some governments, political groups, companies, and criminals don't want people to know the truth.

In some places it's dangerous to merely suggest that people have the right to be informed. Many years ago I knew a professor of journalism who talked about freedom of the press in one of his classes. Shortly after that soldiers came and took him away. He hadn't broken any laws, but they detained him for several weeks, and they tortured him with cigarette burns on sensitive parts of his body. After that incident he showed me his scars, but he didn't say very much. His rich voice had become weak, and he had lost much of his vitality. Nevertheless, he seemed to be satisfied. He had risked his life by teaching his students about freedom, and in the eyes of those who knew him he became a true hero. (276 words)