Press Freedom

Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the principle that communication and
expression through various media, including printed and electronic media , especially published
materials , should be considered a right to be exercised freely. Such freedom implies the
absence of interference from an overreaching state ; its preservation may be sought through
constitution or other legal protection and security.

Freedom of expression is an important human right which is essential for a society to be
democratic. It enables the free exchange of ideas, opinions and information and thus
allows members of society to form their own opinions on issues of public importance.
Freedom of expression serves public debate and supports a free and independent press,
informed citizenship and the transparent functioning of the state.

The right to freedom of expression is very broad, but it has limits and can be restricted.
This is when the freedom of expression of one person violates the rights of another person or
the values of society as a whole. In situations like these, the state can lawfully restrict or
punish expressions that cause harm. Examples of this are violations of private life , defamation,
hate speech , obscenity, pornography, public order, national security, classified information,
trade secrets or copyright violations.

Freedom of expression gives special rights and duties to the media. The media inform society
on matters of public interest and create an important platform for public debate, scrutiny and
reflection. Therefore, independent media and quality journalism are considered to be the
“watchdog” of a democratic society. Some of the duties of are listed below.
Duties of the press
1. First and foremost and maybe the most important advantage of a free press is that it
prevents a dictatorship.
2. Improves the workings of representative government by helping citizens communicate with
their governments.
3. Affords citizens a means of calling attention to violations of their rights.
4. Keeps government closer to the people by helping policymakers better understand how
their actions are being perceived.
5. Disseminates information and ideas among citizens, contributing to a people’s common
 storehouse of knowledge.
6. Last but not least apart  from preventing the government to manipulate with people free
press is there to prevent the  misuse of power that includes corruption as well.
     Limitations of the press
They are limited from touching you physicality. Also, there are limitations ,for libel, and divulging
knowingly false facts to disparage people. So long as they can claim ignorance the press can
say whatever fake things they want.
1. Government cannot sue to prevent the press from printing some information, even if they
don’t have a legal right to have the information (classified or stolen information)
2. The First Amendment prevents the government from interfering with your freedom of the
press, but it does not prevent private interests (people or  companies) from interfering with that
freedom. For example, some radio or TV personalities  have lost their jobs because of what they
said using their freedom of the press. Freedom from  government censorship does not equal
freedom from consequences.
3. Freedom of press is a fundamental personal right that extends to any sort of publication that
can carry information or opinions.
4. Press organizations can be sued for libel or defamation or similar torts, but if the person
suing  is a public figure, then they must show that the press acted with actual malice or knew of
the  inaccuracy of their statement and published it with reckless disregard for the truth. This is a
very difficult standard to meet.
5. Reporters who have confidential sources can be subpoenaed by the courts to divulge those
sources when the information the source holds is key to a pending lawsuit. Some states have
“press shield” laws. These laws prohibit reporters from being forced to divulge their confidential
sources. Other states and the Federal government have no press shield laws, so reporters can
be held in contempt of court for refusing to divulge their sources.
There have been several notable cases of this happening. Currently some jurisdictions have
extended the press shield laws to online bloggers and social media users while others have not
done so, so there is no firm rule on how far these laws extend.
6. School newspapers that are funded by the school may be censored by the Principal or other
school officials.
7. Media cannot be prosecuted for publishing classified information, but those who have a duty
to protect that information can be prosecuted for supplying the information to the media.
Solution to freedom of press
1. Media companies should train journalists in the developing world: Media companies
that  work regularly with local journalists as fixers, translators, etc should offer training,
insurance,  equipment and care to keep them safe, not only from physical but also psychological
harm.  Some already do that (and have signed on to the new freelancer guidelines ).
2. NGOs should look to engage local reporters:  Aid agencies need to stop trampling over
local  media in their rush to get to CNN when there’s an emergency. And they should do all their
press  releases in appropriate languages, and have linguistically appropriate spokespeople.
Anything  else and you are actively undermining their ability to do their (crucial in emergencies)
job. Etc.