Media’s role is to develop democracy, while
stimulating politic interests of citizens and providing the information for
citizens in order to held the government responsible for any malfunction in
state system that acclaim to be in the service of the society.
by Fazli Rrezja (Published on 01/06/2007)
Free media in
democracy acts on behalf of citizens need and education that can be called also
as the “guardian of democracy”. Media
plays a great role and has a deep influence in societies which are passing
through emerging democracies, especially in newly emerging democratic societies
where the legacies of oppression, hatred, pain, xenophobia, religious
justification for war, are applied.
Photo source: The Guardian
Free Media is supposed to serve in favor of process of democracy on different communities within one certain society, must constantly act to promote diversity, political tolerance, the rights and welfare of citizens, factual reality and not to develop mistrust, rivalries, hatred and misuse information like in wars in Rwanda and former Yugoslavia, where media reflected in favor of conflict and violence.
Where markets are imperfect, increased freedom
of speech will be tend to exacerbate nationalist mythmaking unless institutions
and norms correct the flaws in the market
The well-institutionalized
market place of ideas requires anti-trust and equal time regulation
guaranteeing media access, the training of journalist in the verification of
sources and the separation of fact from opinion.
Without such
regulatory institutions, free speech by itself will not guarantee that a range
of voices is effectively heard, that competing arguments are forced to confront
each other on the merits that participants are held accountable for the
accuracy of their statements, that factual claims are scrutinized, that
experts’ credentials are verified, that hidden source of bias are exposed, or
that violators of the norms of fair debate are held up to public censure[1]
Free speech and
media is not absolute. All law systems tolerate to a certain point the code of
ethics in order to protect several state, collective and individual interests.
In emerging
democracies media often is exposed toward the threat imposed by different
interest groups and that’s why its role is mixed and often losses the path of impartial
and balance reporting.
Narrative
liberal theory of a free press offers a coherent view of the different ways in
which increasingly free media strengthened the democratic process, in which, the
media extended the political nation by making information about public affairs
more widely available and promoting a culture of democracy. The media also
empowered the people by subjecting authority to critical scrutiny and representing
public opinion to government, so media enhanced the functioning in emerging
democracies by encouraging constructive and reciprocal communication between
different groups in society.
Discussion of
the media’s democratic role is intimately bound up with the debate about the
media’s organization and regulation[2] the principal role of the media, according to
traditional liberal theory, is to act as a check on the state. So, the media
should monitor the full range of state activity, and fearlessly expose abuses
of official authority.
But, often media reporting in emerging
democracies countries where the situation is fragile, reports are in a risk of
losing the track of responsibility or accountability while going beyond the
freedom, identity and integrity. And that’s one of the reasons why they apply
the code of ethics and regulations imposed by different organizations and
states
Codes serve
three basic functions. First, they outline the conditions of journalist’s
accountability to the state, the public, their employers, their sources and to
their profession. Second, most codes in Europe and the USA are voluntary so
they act as a way of making the press appear responsible. Finally, codes are
important in protecting the freedom, integrity and identity of journalists[3]
In Kosova, after
war period, the special representative of Secretary- General ordered the
establishment of Temporary Media Commission (TMC) in 2000[4],
to manage the frequency spectrum, establish broadcast and press codes of
practice, an act as a result to help in improving reporting while the print and
broadcast media in both languages were prone to issue threats of violence
against groups and individuals, spread disinformation and inciting the violence.
Journalism
remained a risky profession with sporadic acts of violence against both ethnic
Serb and Albanian journalists reported throughout the province’[5]
Good reporting of media is when it develops
trust and respect between different cultures through the spirit of good
reporting that helps in improving the democracy in certain emerging societies
while it provides the assistance in foundations for political and economical
order and stability.
A role of a
journalist or a reporter has a high importance in a country that is in
transition and where the democracy is fragile. He/ she must access the spot of
event, get the facts straight and tell the truth.
One of the main functions
of the media in promoting democratization and good governance in emerging
countries is to help in creation of an effective system of information where
citizens can act freely in order to receive true economical, law, political and
all spheres of information.
Besides, the
other key factor of media in emerging countries is to monitor the function of
political and social institutions in order to engage the trust or doubt of
citizens in their state. Without the sufficient trust, citizens will withdraw
from participation in the political processes, or even can be riot taking part
into a conflict that will excavate deeper the turmoil situation in their
country. Conflicts are often developed because of the disappointment of
citizens on their economical welfare. Government legitimation often fades
regarding to citizens losing their trust in government effective function. Jurgen
Habermas has developed the theory on “legitimation Crisis”, in which people
expect from their government to interfere in economy in order to provide
economical welfare, if not, the legitimation of government is on doubt[6] .
Most of countries that face emerging democracy also have instable economy that
tackles the pulse of media and citizens.
No journalist
can be completely objective. Journalists like everyone, carry the values of
their own country, their religion and their own ethnic group. That is why
professional journalist has standards for accuracy, impartiality and
responsibility to remove our personal values and bias.[7]
Media
manipulation often plays a central role in promoting nationalist and ethnic
conflict, but we argue that promoting unconditional freedom of public debate in
newly democratizing societies is, in many circumstances likely to make the
problem worse. Historically and today, from French Revolution to Rwanda, sudden
liberalization of press freedom have been associated with bloody outbursts of
popular nationalism[8]
Whenever there
is a conflict there is a reason of its origin and development, and a good
reporter is one who should be there to find out impartially information and be objective
in his reporting. Professional journalists do not set out to reduce conflict.
They seek to present accurate and impartial news. But, it is often through good
reporting that conflict is reduced[9]
Media in certain
situations can be a danger tool to deal with, even if journalists follow the
right direction not bias and so on but on the other side there are groups who
think differently and the subjectivity becomes something both sides of a medal.
Newspaper and
broadcast journalism can be a dangerous profession as evidenced by the numbers
of journalists and crew who are killed or injured each year in the desire to be
at the scene of the action and gain dramatic stories for newspapers, magazines,
radio and television [10]
When there is a
violent threat in society the media sometimes takes sides. This happened in
Nepal. The government declared a state of emergency against Maoist threat. The
main media agreed and did not concern itself that the emergency took away media
freedoms. And the media used the government words to describe the Maoist as
terrorists. It was difficult for journalists to independently report on and
analyze the government or the Maoists. Journalists censored themselves and lost
impartiality[11]
In this case probably was a difficult task for
a journalist to be impartial and report the information from the both sides.
Their access was impossible to reach the Maoist rebels, because they have
reported government word and through media Maoist were considered as a
terrorist. But, during Kosova war in
1999 while the fierce NATO’s air assault against Serbia proved to be a
difficult task for national and international journalists, where they have walked
in a thin line of bias reporting. BBC journalist John Simpson decided to stay in
conflict zone after most of international journalists harassed into leaving by
Serbian authorities. Simpson interviews with Belgrade citizens suggested
growing popular support for Milosevic, the opposite key aim of the Nato attacks
and he asserted this point explicitly. After Serb claimed that NATO planes had
attacked a refuge convoy, his report suggested that if Serbs responded by
taking foreign journalists to the site probably was a NATO attack. All this was too much for the British
government who decided to attack Simpson directly, accusing him of deliberate
pro-Serbian reporting and lack of objectivity. This attack drew both national
and international criticism and paradoxically helped Simpson’s later reporting
on the ground as Belgrade citizens began to see him (wrongly) as on their side
and allowed him to report events during the war’[12]
Simpson as a journalist of a very influenced broadcasting
organization(BBC) was bound by the principles of due impartiality which requires
journalists to provide balanced reports free from their own partisan views, has
achieved report impartially, even though he was restricted by the Serbs on what is he allowed to report
and access places inside the conflict zone.
In spite of
media in Nepal where journalists were influenced by their government, Simpson
used his professional journalistic skills, by walking on the thin line of bias
just to achieve in the end the truth, and his efforts to be objective were more
risky and courageous than those of Nepal
journalist.
There is
undoubted lengthy history of allegations of bias in journalism in many
countries, So, perhaps an examination of bias might be more profitable route
into understanding
What journalism
objectivity might refer to in practice given the problems in the
conceptualization of objectivity, bias can’t simply be defined as the absence
of objectivity.[13]
Moreover, the
crucial role of media in the emerging democracies should be at the same time
free and responsible for its reporting. Reporting on different cultural
contexts in a various conflict zone is often defamatory, malicious and
corrupted
Professional media should keep itself away
from bias reporting on nationalism, patriotism in ethnic conflicts, reporting
on minorities and other diversity issues.
The key of success of one professional
reporter in a conflict zone or in any emerging democracy situations is to keep
the right track of accuracy, impartiality and responsibility while reporting
his story. The essential element in a democracy, is when well informed citizens
from the media information, can make decisions in their own interest and with a
good media collaboration they can stand firmly as the foundation stone of the
lighthouse of democracy.
[1] Jack Snyder and Karen Ballentine,”Media
Institution and Norms” Nationalism and the Marketplace of Ideas, Kijac Reader
”Media law and Ethics”
[2] James Curran, Media and Power, published
2002, Chapter 8- Media and Democracy
[3] Vincent Campbell, Information Age
Journalism, published 2004” Chapter Six- News Gathering and professional
Ethics.
[4] Peter Krug and Monroe E. Price, Content
Regulation in Post Confict Zones, Kijac Reader ”Media law and Ethics”
[5] Julie Mertus and Mark Thompson, The
Learning Curve: Media Development in Kosovo
[6] Iain Mc Lean,The concise dictionary of
Politics, Oxford University
[7] [7] Ross
Howard ,‘Conflict Sensitive Journalism, International Media Support
[8] Jack Snyder and Karen Ballentine,
Nationalism and the Marketplace of Ideas, Kijac Reader ”Media law and Ethics”
[9] Ross Howard ,‘Conflict Sensitive
Journalism, International Media Support
[10] Richard Rudin and Trevor Ibbotson, An
Introduction to Journalism, published 2002, “Chapter 10 -Health and
Safety”
[11] Ross Howard ,Conflict Sensitive Journalism,
International Media Support
[12] Vincent Campbell, Information Age
Journalism, published 2004, Chapter Seven- Objectivity and Bias
[13] Vincent Campbell, Information Age
Journalism, published 2004,” Chapter Seven- Objectivity and Bias
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