Freedom of the Press - Definition, Measurement, and a Global Assessment

 

Freedom of the press is the provision to share an opinion, idea, value, and/or perspective with others without restrictions. This is an important concept to consider because in order for society to grow, you need assistance by words. Press is a form of speech and anyone with a voice deserves the space to speak freely.

Freedom house released a 2019 report on media freedom being a downward spiral. The study lasted for five years and expanded over sixteen countries (Freedom House 2019). They rated each country on a scale from zero to four. Zero being the worst and four being the best. The article touched on different subjects such as implications of democratic governance and media freedom globally and achieving media dominance. Implications of democracy focused on floating transparency and the need to increase transparency with the public (Freedom House 2019). Media dominance focused on squelching critical outlets and bolstering loyal outlets by using economic, legal, and extra legal tools (Freedom House 2019). They call the tools, “the illiberal tools”, which aim to exploit the weaknesses in today’s media (Freedom House 2019). This makes media in countries unreachable.

Freedom House also released Freedom of Press Research Methodology. They conduct research on 199 countries and rate them. Zero to one hundred. Zero being the best and one hundred being the worst. Countries are also divided into three categories; free, partly free, and not free. All countries meet the criteria for being researched regardless of governmental system. The research and surveying process is extensive. The methodology used by freedom house has been altered to fit the current climate of the press (Freedom House 2019). The methodology includes 23 questions that are divided into three categories; legal, political, and economics (Freedom House 2019). The methodology wants to address how information and the availability of media flows and operates freely without limitations and restrictions. Each category has seven to eight questions that involve the government, political influence, and the media environments (Freedom House 2019). Freedom house methodology is effective in learning and gathering information about the treatment and usage of press media.

Key findings as it relates to the 2019 reports are (1) Media freedom has been deteriorating around the world over the past decade (Freedom House 2019). Certain governments around the world are putting more restrictions and limitations due to fear of backlash from opposite positions. It is a way of controlling the narrative. With one opinion being classified as the right opinion. (2) Experiences have shown that press freedom can rebound from even lengthy stints of repressions when given the opportunity (Freedom House 2019). Regardless of the deteriorating press media freedom. Freedom of press can be restored with various methods that everyone can serve and find comfort. One way to restoration is fact based journalism (Freedom House 2019).

As far as the recommendations are concerned, they are achievable. It takes a big stand and approach to restore the freedom of the press especially in locations where it seems highly impossible. Lots of determination, support, and funding is needed to push the instinctive. Some obstacles would be government and political influence. It may be hard to get around certain limitations and restrictions already in place. In order to fight them in high level courts, individuals would need substantial evidence to prove that these limits and restrictions are harmful and damaging socially and economically. Another obstacle would be the lack of support. Some people probably would not support the initiative because they grew accustomed to the current climate. It is hard to change individuals' mindsets, again, without substantial reasoning.

Freedom house is on a mission to protect human freedom rights. One report at a time.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Media and the Government - The Struggle for Control

Image
  The media personales aim to acquire more means and viewers to their platforms. They seek to build on their stock and revenue to continue building their companies. The media is able to influence people based on algorithms. The government seeks to build on public image and promotion. Politicians have an image to upkeep in order to keep support for elections time. The people within these two institutions, aka the journalist, just want to report the truth. What motivates or is the common denominator is attention. They want the public’s attention. These institutions and individuals cannot function without the public. They have to find effective ways of gaining and keeping their attention. They share posts, messages, and readings that can be deemed important or not. Some examples are (1) In Norway, the media is seen operating in favor of the political environment (Reporters Without Borders 2024). The reason why it's viewed as favorable is because Norwegian politicians, parliamentarians...
Read more

Descriptive Representation in the News

Image
  Representation is everything. This earth is full of people from all walks of life. Cultures and languages that differ from region to region. I want to focus on two groups: the rich and the poor. Everyone might be different from different places but we all have in common the wealth gap. When you watch a video, pertaining to those who come from wealth, you see fancy cars and big houses. When you watch a video, pertaining to those who do not come from wealth, you see small houses and rarely any vehicles. Individuals walk or use old bikes to get around. No personal drivers. I want to make a point as it pertains to the difference in presentation to the world. On television Africa was depicted as this poor continent riddled with war and lack of food and water. You saw children starving and parents who were unable to make ends meet. No sign of wealth or development to grow the country. It's under-represented to the world. But what society has failed to realize is the strive Africa has m...
Read more