As a journalist, you need to know the basis of your freedom. As such,
this unit will look at the freedom of expression, press freedom as enunciated
by international laws and conventions and of course the Nigerian Constitution.
At the end of this article, you should be able to:
• Define press freedom
• Differentiate between the freedom of expression and press freedom
• Identify the limitation of your freedom as a journalist working in
Nigeria.
The Meaning of Press Freedom
Liberty or freedom of expression and the meaning:
Laying no previous restraint upon publication. Liberty of the press means laying no previous or prior censorship of publication. Every person has the right to lay what sentiments, facts, information or publication he has before the public.
To forbid this right is to destroy freedom of expression and the
press; but, where a person publishes what is unlawful, criminal, defamatory or
mischievous; he must face the consequences of his publication.
Liberty of the press consists in laying no previous restrain upon
publication and not in freedom from censorship for criminal matters published.
Every man has the undoubted right to lay what sentiment he pleases before the
public… to forbid that is to destroy the freedom of the press- but if he
publishes what is illegal or mischievous he must face the consequences of his
own temerity”
Concisely, the liberty of the press is a right with a responsibility. The
freedom of expression which Ray Ekpu (1998) regarded as the grandmother of all
freedom has been given an important place in virtually all international and
national charters of human rights.
For instance, Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Right
States that: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this
right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek,
receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of
frontier.
Article 19 (1) of the international Convention on Civil and Political Right says that “Everyone shall have the Right to hold opinion without interference.” The African charter on Human and Peoples’ Right Article 9 says “Every individual shall have the right to express and disseminate his opinions within the law.
In most countries of the world including Nigeria, freedom of
expression has always been given a significant place.
History of Press Freedom
The revolution caused by the invention of printing brought about
literacy, development of modern European languages and of course, the establishment
of newspapers. This eventually led to the symbolic relationship between the
government and the media, a relationship that still exists until date.
By this relationship, the government tried to maintain power and control
press over the dissemination of information about government activities. The
public (through the media newspapers) wanted to know what the governments were
doing.
Hence, the conflict between these two forces, which still continues up
until date. Throughout the history of mankind, people have really fought for
the freedom of speech. Laws have been passed and wars fought over people’s
rights to express ideas publicly.
According to history, the great philosopher, Socrates, is said to be the
first known person to fight for freedom of speech. When he was accused of
corrupting the morals of the youths of Athens through his teachings, Socrates
confessed that he is ready to die many times if that is the sacrifice he has to
make in the course of speaking his mind in his search for wisdom. This,
clearly, means fighting for the freedom of speech and expression.
Definition of Press Freedom
Press freedom is actually an extension of the freedom of expression. The
concept of freedom of press has been something on the lips of many people right
from the olden days. For instance, in Nigeria, if we look back at the earliest
newspapers such as Rev. Henry Townsend’s Iwe Irohin published in 1859 and the
other newspapers that followed it, we will observe the struggle for press
freedom.
It is unfortunate and regrettable that up until date, the freedom of the press has not been protected despite pressmen’s involvement in government in many cases.
Prominent Nigerians such as late Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe, Ernest Ikoli, Chief Anthony Enahoro, Alhaji Babatunde Jose, late Dele Giwa, Nosa Igiebor, etc. have fought for freedom of the press, yet they have not been able to guarantee it. Robert L. Stevenson in J.C Merrill (1995:63) rightly observed that: Everyone is in favour of freedom of the press.
The problem is lack of
agreement on what it is and who has it……. This simply means that press freedom
is still a rare commodity in the world. Merrill (1995:69).
This is why Nigerian journalists, like their counterparts in some parts
of the world, are still agitating for press freedom today.
The definition of press freedom is relatively obscure. However, it can
generally be said that “press freedom is the freedom a journalist has to
perform his duties without interference of any kind, while still maintaining
ethical standards.”
Contemporary Freedom
With the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, independent journalism began to thrive and find foot in Africa since the 1990s.
The fact could be justified from announcement of PANA (Pan Africa News Agency) towards a change to independent reporting. Hence, many African countries, media organizations which, hitherto, had very little powers began to challenge government authority.
Unfortunately, the wave of democracy sweeping through the
developing countries is still lacking in some of these countries. The effect is
that many African countries still have a very long way to go. It is, however,
hoped that the countries involved will learn from one another, while still,
collectively, forging ahead towards the common goal of achieving press freedom.
Current Trends
In 1991, a study done on “human rights” in 104 countries showed that
there is an improvement in human rights conditions. The work noted that there
has been an unparalleled improvement in this direction for five years ranging
from 1986-1991 A similar progress was also reported by Freedom House. By the
Freedom House categorization of Press Freedom in 1993, it was observed that
only 25 percent of the world’s population operated a free press, 44 percent partly free press, while 31 percent were not free.
Another analysis of the Freedom House looked at a number of countries
rather than the percentages that fell under these different categories. It also
observed that 67 countries were regarded as having a free press, 60 partly free
and 50, not free. It also observed that the number of Countries improving in
press freedom outnumbered those with declining freedom.
Prospects
All over the world, press freedom is under one kind of threat or the
other. Since democracy initiates a constant battle between different forces in
the society, most people are seen demanding freedom for themselves.
Unfortunately, these people do not carry along this enthusiasm for
demanding freedom when they are in power. This is often because at this stage,
they now face challenges from both political and journalistic oppositions.
These struggles are important because they define the scope of press
freedom in the different countries, which the rest of the whole may aspire to
attain. These were the views of Stevenson, which he considers responsible for
the challenges facing press freedom.
The scope of press freedom, however, depends on the individual countries
of the world and the extent of the relationship of the media and the government
in each country. In addition, it borders on what provisions each Country’s
constitution makes for the freedom of speech/expression generally and for the
freedom of the press in particular.
For according to Udoakah, freedom of the press is not an idea that can be
conceptualized in a vacuum. It is rather a factor of other circumstances. To
him, freedom of the press is not just the right of the journalist to publish
news and comments without interference.
In the views of Udoakah (1994) in J.C Merrill (1995:223), it also
includes: The right of the people to express themselves in the media of public
communication without being curtailed by those who wield political, religious,
economic and other powers. It means the availability of the press to people.
The people should be given free and unimpeded access to news and
information….
According to him, freedom of the press is therefore, the relative absence
of governmental, economic and other controls in the operation of the press.
Given this scenario, it is obvious that the future for press freedom is still
bleak because most African governments are not willing to fully succumb to the
demands of absolute press freedom.
Coverage of Africa by the Western Media
As earlier mentioned, the coverage of Africa by the western world is not only
shabby, but also predominantly negative. This can be vividly ascertained by the
findings of Gary T. Hunt (1996:189) who examined (investigated) “the image” of
Africa as reflected by the elite American press.
His findings are in line with the observations of Hatchten and Beil
(1985) and Martin (1992) who posited that Africa is “one of the most
underreported regions in the world, even though Africa is the second largest
continent of the world”.
Some of the findings of G.T Hunt in his study are:
i) The Association Press (AP’s) coverage of Africa reflects crises and
conflicts from troubled spots.
ii) The developing countries have often been scantily reported by the
western media
iii) The interests of the American media audience dictate the coverage in
the media.
The perception of American editors appears to be that their audience have
limited or virtually no interest in Third World events and news, hence, their
scanty coverage of these areas.
Unfortunately, this is the opposite of what happens in the Third World
countries, who rather, have American news consistently featuring in their
media.
There is, therefore, a lack of reciprocity. When foreign news does appear
in the American media, it tends to focus on Western Europe, South Asia, the Far
East, and the Middle East (G.T Hunt, in Merrill: 1995:192). These are the areas
which they have business relationships with, apart from regional proximity with
them.
These factors determine their coverage of foreign news. Although
journalists, in the Western world are encouraged to write chaotic stories about
Africa, the Western audience does not care about these stories on disaster and
coups. This is because many media organizations in the Western world have
‘decided that Africa is no longer politically fashionable or newsworthy.
iv) American news has the tendency to produce odd and strange news about
Africa.
v) The coverage of Africa by the Western media lacks in-depth analysis
and highly researched background material. Suffice it, however, to say that
Hunt also recognized some reasons for this biased coverage of Third World
countries.
Reasons for biased Coverage of Africa
1. Complexity and unnecessary
bureaucracy in gaining entry into Third World countries. Difficult travel
conditions and cost of reporting on such a large continent as Africa.
2. The size of Africa and the distance between countries of interest that
the Western media may want to cover or report.
3. The focus on Western media audience interest, which is the prime
concern of Western editors.
The findings of G.T Hunt actually reflect the need for the Western media
and particularly the American news media to have a serious rethink, and take a
look at the way it covers Africa.
On the other hand, African countries must work with American reporters to
make it easier for them to cover the continent; for both objective news
coverage is possible only when both the source and the reporter fully
understand each other’s role
Therefore, both the American media and the African countries have a big
role to play in rectifying these discrepancies in the Western media coverage of
Africa.
Constitutional Guarantees
The first amendment to the American Constitution says, “Congress shall
make no law to abrogate the freedom of the press.” In Nigeria, the concept of
the liberty of the press is embodied in Section 39 (1) of the 1999 Constitution
which says “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including
freedom to hold opinion and to receive and impart ideas and information”.
Some justification for a free press as follows.
• First, that the institution of a free press- that is a press is
independent and free of censorship is an essential element of every Free State
and modern democracy.
• Second, it is held that it is the function and indeed, the duty of the
press to keep the citizens of a country informed of the different opinions
which are being expressed, so that the citizens can make the political decision
which a democracy demands of them.
• In addition, it has been held that the security of constitutional
government lies in effecting peaceful change based on the worthiness and appeal
of opposing programmes and ideas presented to the public by the competitor for
political power.
Besides, it is widely considered that freedom of the press is essential
to the individual’s own development and realization. It must however be pointed
out that the freedom of expression clause as stated in the Nigerian
Constitution does not specifically mention media practitioners.
Rather, it says “every person,” which presupposes that every member of
the society has a right to write and to print as they will and gather news for
any publication without interference.
Limits to Freedom of the Press
There is no absolute freedom anywhere, even in the freest societies of the world. The freedom or right of one person or the press to publish should not destroy the right of another man or the right of society to exist and be safe from the effect of wrongful, harmful, defamatory or mischievous publications.
Therefore, the press has freedom and equal responsibility that goes
with that freedom. It has a right and a duty. For every right or freedom that
is claimed or enjoyed there is a corresponding duty.
In the words of Denning L. J: To our way of thinking, it is elementary
that each man should be able to inquire and seek after truth until he has found
it. Everyone in the land should be free to think his own thoughts, have his own
opinion and give voice to them, in public or in private, so long as he does not
speak ill of his neighbour, and free also to criticize the government or any
party or group of people, so long as he does not incite anyone to violence.
In short, while the press wants absolute and unhindered freedom, the
freedom has to be limited in the overall interest of everyone in society
including the press by:
• The Constitution
• The Legislature
• The Courts; and
• The Government
While guaranteeing freedom of expression and the press, the constitution
is also quick to impose limitations. For example: The 1999 Constitution makes
freedom of expression subject to any law that is reasonably justifiable in a
democratic society.
Section 39 (3) says: Nothing in this section shall invalidate any law
that is reasonably justifiable in a democratic society.
a. For the purpose of preventing the disclosure of information received
in confidence, maintaining the authority and independence of courts or
regulating telephony, wireless broadcasting, television or the exhibition of
cinematographic films; or
b. Imposing restrictions upon persons holding office under the Government
of the Federal or of a State, members of the Nigerian Police Force or other
government security services established by law. Section 45 (1) provides:
“Nothing in Section 37, 38, 40 and 41 of this Constitution shall
invalidate any law that is reasonably justifiable in a democratic society.
a) In the interest of defense, public safety, public order, public
morality; public health; or
b) For the purpose of protection of the rights and freedom of other
persons.
In pursuance of this constitutional provision, for the protection of the
public and private individuals legislatures in Nigeria are therefore free and
have been able to pass laws in the following areas:
a) Contempt of court and contempt of parliament
b) Disclosure or publication of official secrets including defense and
security information
c) Publication of obscene and harmful literature and materials
d) Sedition and seditious publication
e) Defamation; and
f) Regulation of telephony, wireless broadcasting, television or the
exhibition of cinematography films.
The freedom of expression and freedom of the press given by the
constitution are not without limits or warnings. It is important for every
media practitioner to know that there is a limit to his or her freedom of
expression so as not to run afoul of the law.
The freedom of expression and freedom of the press are so important that
virtually all-international and national charters of human rights recognize
them. Besides, most countries of the world including Nigeria have enshrined freedom
of expression and freedom of the press in their constitutions. However, it must
be noted that the freedom is not limited to journalists alone, also the freedom
is not without restriction from the constitution, from government, courts and
legislations.
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