Fundamental freedoms

PRESS Freedom Day is a unifying cord that runs through the media industry; it is a day when the grievances and challenges of the industry are laid bare. It is a day when media professionals around the world take a step back and ask themselves some hard questions.

Media freedom in Sri Lanka remains a controversial issue, not only because of external threats and suppressions, but because of the internal constraints that make it even weaker and give an uncertain future to the industry. However one issue that should unite us within the industry and as a country is the right to information.

The theme of yesterday’s Press Freedom Day was a timely one for the Sri Lankan people and was hopefully noted by our representatives in Government. The theme of ‘Access to Information and Fundamental Freedoms’ is one that has come up in our island time and time again, especially with recent developments in a Right to Information Bill.

Ensuring access to information that is for the public good is an essential hallmark of a democratic form of governance and should be held up as a fundamental right in any free society. For Sri Lankans, rights such as these have been hard to come by. For decades, media freedom was choppy topic that was usually sunk by politicians who felt that an independent media was an overrated and some would argue a pointless concept but with peace here and a new Government promising progressive moves the time for an RTI Bill is now or never.

World Press Freedom Day occurs on the anniversary of the first freedom of information law which applied to Sweden and Finland. Since then progressive movements around the world have rallied for similar legislature to the point where Sri Lanka remains behind her regional counterparts including India, Pakistan and Nepal when it comes to such legislature.

To be informed is to be empowered; therefore when the media is disempowered, society as a whole suffers. There are many public and private institutions that claim to work for social good, but are not forthcoming with the media, often refusing to cooperate and share information that is vital for the public good and for enhancing democracy and debate. While the media is flawed to be sure and deserves a degree of criticism it must be understood that obtaining and publishing data is often a laborious and time-consuming process leading to inaccuracies and counter allegations because officials are not willing to give information to journalists.

For media freedom to increase, the right to information is an important issue that needs to be addressed. Assisting journalists to do their job and respecting their rights is an essential facet of establishing a strong fourth estate. Media freedom is essential to develop good governance, freedom of expression and democracy; thus it is in the best interests of everyone to support a responsible and professional media with the right to access information for the public good.