Lessons from history on press freedom

Right now, according to the 2009 Freedom House rankings (see below), South Africa is joint 66th out of 195 countries in terms of press freedom. It is pretty much near the bottom of the list of countries with a free press and, should it drop from 66 to 71, it will then only be considered to have a partly free press.

And as history tends to show, press freedom is like pregnancy - either you are or you aren't

It is going to be fascinating to see the next Freedom House survey and whether SA goes up of down the rankings. And even if the ANC abandons its plans for a media appeals tribunal and Protection of Information Bill, one cannot help but think that the mere fact that it has come up for serious discussion will play a huge role in forcing SA's ratings down.

Detrimental effect

A lot has been said about the dangers of meddling with press freedom. There are vast numbers of case histories showing the detrimental effect that censorship, media restrictions and the curtailment of freedom of speech have on countries and governments.

There are no positive examples of the effect of these restrictions. Everyone always loses in the end.

Sage advice

Here are some quotes on the subject from the annals of history:

We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.

The press is easier to strangle than to look in the eyes.

Limiting the freedom of news 'just a little bit' is in the same category with the classic example 'a little bit pregnant'.

We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavouring to stifle is a false opinion; and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still.

No discretion

The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion.

The only valid censorship of ideas is the right of people not to listen.

Censorship reflects society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime.

We have a natural right to make use of our pens as of our tongue, at our peril, risk and hazard.

A free press can be good or bad, but, most certainly, without freedom a press will never be anything but bad.

The dirtiest book of all is the expurgated book.

Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too.

Be thankful

I am thankful for all the complaining I hear about our government because it means we have freedom of speech.

The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.

Did you ever hear anyone say, "That work had better be banned because I might read it and it might be very damaging to me?"

If you don't have this freedom of the press, then all these little fellows are weaseling around and doing their monkey business and they never get caught.

The test of democracy is freedom of criticism.

If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.

To limit the press is to insult a nation; to prohibit reading of certain books is to declare the inhabitants to be either fools or slaves.

If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.

Human right

Every human being has a right to hear what other wise human beings have spoken to him. It is one of the Rights of Men; a very cruel injustice if you deny it to a man!

Books won't stay banned - Ideas won't go to jail.

You can cage the singer but not the song.

Fear of serious injury cannot alone justify suppression of free speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burned women. It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational fears.

Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.

Mind control

Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds.

Freedom of the Press, if it means anything at all, means the freedom to criticise and oppose.

All censorships exist to prevent any one from challenging current conceptions and existing institutions. All progress is initiated by challenging current conceptions, and executed by supplanting existing institutions. Consequently the first condition of progress is the removal of censorships.

Censorship reflects society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime.

Freedom of the Press 2009 Global Rankings

* Israeli-Occupied Territories/Palestinian Authority