#BTColumn – Journalism under digital siege

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by Wayne Campbell

“We have to uphold a free press and freedom of speech – because, in the end, lies and misinformation are no match for the truth.” – Barack Obama

Increasingly, journalists continue to risk their own lives in order to bring to us the news. Since February 24, the beginning of Russia’s war on Ukraine, 18 journalists have been killed and 13 injured, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Information Policy.

The war’s first media fatality was Evgeny Sakun, a Ukrainian cameraman working for the local Kyiv Live TV channel, who was killed when Russian missiles hit the Kyiv television tower on 1 March.

Globally, the media landscape has grown exponentially over the years. Journalism is the collection, preparation, and distribution of news and related commentary and feature materials through such print and electronic media as newspapers, magazines, books, blogs, webcasts, podcasts, social networking and social media sites, and e-mail as well as through radio, motion pictures, and television.

In Jamaica the organisation representing journalists in both traditional as well as new media fields is the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ).

The Press Association is guided by its constitution which defines its overarching goal as being dedicated to the best interest of democracy and press freedom in Jamaica.

The PAJ is organised and operated exclusively for the furtherance of the education and professional status of its members.

In Jamaica there are currently over 30 radio stations both community-based and those which provide island-wide coverage.

In an era of alternative and misinformation the value credible news brings is very important not only to the intended audience but also to cement the stability of democracies worldwide.

The absence of credible news was the catalyst for supporters of former president Trump who attacked the United States capitol on January 6 in 2021.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many journalists to work online or in the digital realm given than many media outlets had drastically reduced their staff during the pandemic.

The demand for online content has increased tremendously and mobile journalism has now become an area of focus and space for many journalists.

World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) is an annual celebration of press freedom, observed on 3 May and whose main celebration is organized by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

It serves as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom and is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics.

World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993, following the recommendation of UNESCO’s General Conference in 1991.

Since then, 3 May, the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek is celebrated globally as World Press Freedom Day.

According to the United Nations after 30 years, the historic connection made between the freedom to seek, impart and receive information and the public good remains as relevant as it was at the time of its signing. Special commemorations of the 30th anniversary are planned to take place during World Press Freedom Day International Conference.

May 3 acts as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom. World Press Freedom Day is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics.

It is an opportunity to: celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom; assess the state of press freedom throughout the world; defend the media from attacks on their independence and pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

Journalism under Digital Siege

Disturbingly, in many parts of the world journalists are harassed, falsely imprisoned and even murdered.Unquestionably, journalism is under siege. This year’s World Press Freedom Day theme “Journalism under digital siege,” spotlighted the multiple ways in which journalism is endangered by surveillance and digitally-mediated attacks on journalists, and the consequences of all this on public trust in digital communications.

The latest UNESCO World Trends Report Insights discussion paper “Threats that Silence: Trends in the Safety of Journalists,” highlights how surveillance and hacking are compromising journalism.

Surveillance can expose information gathered by journalists including from whistle-blowers, and violates the principle of source protection, which is universally considered a prerequisite for freedom of the media and is enshrined in UN Resolutions. Surveillance may also harm the safety of journalists by disclosing sensitive private information, which could be used for arbitrary judicial harassment or attack.

World Press Freedom Index

The 2022 World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), shows that the coming decade will be decisive for the future of journalism, with the COVID-19 pandemic highlighting and amplifying the many crises that threaten the right to freely reported, independent, diverse and reliable information.

This 2020 edition of the Index, which evaluates the situation for journalists each year in 180 countries and territories, suggests that the next ten years will be pivotal for press freedom because of converging crises affecting the future of journalism: a geopolitical crisis (due to the aggressiveness of authoritarian regimes); a technological crisis (due to a lack of democratic guarantees); a democratic crisis (due to polarisation and repressive policies); a crisis of trust (due to suspicion and even hatred of the media); and an economic crisis (impoverishing quality jour Norway tops the Index for the fourth year in a row in 2022, while Finland is again the runner-up.

Denmark (up 2 at 3rd) is next as both Sweden (down 1 at 4th) and the Netherlands (down 1 at 5th) have fallen as a result of increases in cyber-harassment.

Canada is ranked at 19th. Interestingly, the United States of America which is often regarded as the bastion of free speech comes in at 42.

Jamaica is ranked 12th out of 180 countries on the Index. Contrastingly, the other end of the Index has seen little change.

Russia is ranked 150th, Saudi Arabia is ranked at 166th; Ukraine is ranked 106th; Cuba comes in at 173st; China is ranked 175th, North Korea (down 1 at 180th) has taken the last position from Turkmenistan, while Eritrea (178th) continues to be Africa’s worst-ranked country.

There is a growing global push encouraging more transparency regarding how Internet companies exploit citizens’ data; how that data informs predictive models and artificial intelligence, and enables amplification of disinformation and hatred.

The recent acquisition of the popular social media platform by billionaire Elon Musk should be a cause of concern for all of us.

The fact is Twitter will now become privately owned and the rules of engagement will most likely be changed in line with the ideals and values of its new owner.

Undoubtedly, media freedom is a fundamental right, however, a significant number of countries do not recognise such freedoms.

Governments need to redouble their efforts in order to safeguard journalists as they pursue truth in carrying out their duties. In the words of Walter Cronkite, freedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy.

Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues. waykam@yahoo.com @WayneCamo © #WorldPressFreedomDay #PressFreedom #WPFD2022 #Jamaica #ProtectJournalists@pressfreedom #FreedomofExpression