FREEDOM OF PRESS, SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

FREEDOM OF PRESS

Freedom of press is regarded as an inalienable right of people in a free society. It carries with it the freedom and responsibility to discuss, question, and challenge actions and utterances of government, public and private institutions. Journalists uphold the right to speak unpopular opinions and the privilege to agree with the majority. Freedom of press belongs to the people. It must be defended against encroachment or assault from any quarter, public or private. Journalists must be constantly alert to see that the public business is conducted in public. They must be vigilant against all who would exploit the media for self interest.

Freedom of the press consists of lawful or statutory protections pertaining to the media and published materials.

With respect to governmental information, any government distinguishes which materials are public or protected from disclosure to the public based on classification of information as sensitive, classified or secret and being otherwise protected from disclosure due to relevance of the information to protecting the national interest. Many governments are also subject to sunshine laws or freedom of information legislation that are used to define the ambit of national interest.

As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers"

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Social responsibility is an ethical or ideological theory that an entity whether it is a government, corporation, organization or individual has a responsibility to society. This responsibility can be "negative", meaning there is a responsibility to refrain from acting (resistance stance) or it can be "positive," meaning there is a responsibility to act (proactive stance).

Media serve many important responsibilities, for the society such as social economic, educational, religious, cultural etc. Many people think that media play a vital role in making democracy work.. media can render the day to day lives of the people better, it can entertain them to be more specific, the major responsibilities are:-

o To give a daily account of what is happening in the surroundings and world.

o To serve as a watchdog on government

o To inform citizens so that they can participate in decision making activities

o To provide practical information for day to day living

o To provide adult education

o To provide entertainment

OPINION

A free press means free people and freedom of speech and expression is the fundamental right of every human being, provision of which is liable on the government of the land he dwells on.

In an international context of press and media, as far as its freedom is concerned it is generally accepted and proven that no ‘absolute’ freedom is given to them no matter however independent a government would be, there exists a regulatory body which is in agreement with the supreme laws that govern the country, regulates the news brought in and views of the journalists in order to safegaurd the solidarity and dignity of the country. The function of the media is to inform and engage citizens through the free flow of information that advances democratic and economic development. A professional and free media sector builds more transparent and effective governance, promotes fair and open economies, and generates responsible discussion about social and political issues aiming towards public satisfaction in their representatives as well as understanding of the problems of the public by the later to formulate and implement favorable policies

The press in Pakistan holds significant power and has suffered much under various political leaders, only to emerge resilient and more committed to freedom of speech. The existence of such a free press is remarkable given the often harsh means used by various governments to control it.

Historically, the press and media had been under pressure regardless of the nature of the government be it a military dictatorship or a so called ‘democratic’. The buzzword of ‘freedom’ has been reinforced by every government in the last 61 years but the unfortunate truth is that the press had never been free and compelled to be the mouthpiece of the ruling parties in the government . Imprisoning of the journalists and banning of newspapers and TV channels is not new in our country but the last few years have been worst for Pakistani press. According to the statistics provided by the Intermedia in their Annual State of Pakistani Media Report 2007- 08, the analysis covering a period of 12 months i.e. from May 07 to May 08, 15 journalists were murdered in the line of duty, 357 were arrested, 123 sustained injuries in physical assaults, 154 were harassed while there were 18 cases of attacks and ransacking of media properties and 88 cases of various gag orders issued by the government.

Incidents like these and the same in the past have resulted in a clash between the government and the press which consequently brings social and political instability in the country which leads to public cynicism in both the media itself and the government.