In this ‘Information Age’, a journalist is killed every week

The Pakistan media mark international day to end impunity for crimes against journalists (file photo)

November 4, 2015, 8:38 pm

Indeed, the impunity with which journalists are killed or made to ‘disappear’ must be brought to an end. It is up to states to ensure that this ‘culture of impunity’ is ended. Governments claiming to be democratic are specially obliged to take this task upon themselves.

Making a statement on the occasion of the ‘International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists’, which fell on November 2, UNESCO pointed out that over the past decade 700 journalists have been killed the world over while carrying out their professional duties. Accordingly, on the average, a journalist is killed somewhere in the world every week while discharging his professional responsibilities.

Even as this is being written, a radio journalist is reported to have been brutally murdered in the Philippines, which is described by the international media as ‘a country known for dozens of unsolved killings of journalists.’ Apparently, since 1992, 77 journalists and two media support workers have been killed in the Philippines ‘for their work’. But to balance the picture, the Lankan state too has a lot of explaining to do with regard to some journalists who have been killed or caused to ‘disappear’ over the decades. Well, to be fair, an accusing finger cannot be pointed at the state in connection with all these incidents of the past, but a duty is cast on the state to ascertain as to what happened to these journalists and to bring to justice those responsible for the relevant misdeeds. It is in this sense that the state has a lot of explaining to do.

Such ‘bleeding statistics’ ought to shock the world, but is there any indication that this is the case? Do states and publics anywhere figure out as to what these figures on the killing of journalists translate into?

The answer to these posers is an obvious ‘No’ because there is hardly any evidence that the killing of journalists and media workers means anything much to anyone, including those sections which are said to espouse the cause of the media. What, for example, are journalists’ organizations and linked groups in Sri Lanka doing about their country’s ‘disappeared’ journalists? The responsibility of the journalist, essentially, is to keep the public and other relevant sections informed about what is happening around them, but it is insufficiently realized that such information is as important as the food a human eats and the air he breathes.

It is the journalist who helps in the empowerment of people and communities by keeping them ‘abreast of the news’ daily. If people are to act in their legitimate interests they need to be constantly informed and it is the journalist who helps them in this vital task. Whether it be food prices and its availability, government policy, Cabinet changes, bank interest rates, share prices, medical facilities, pensions and international political developments, to take just a few examples, it is the journalist and the media who bring such information to the notice of the people and it ought to be plain to see that without such knowledge life would be impossible. So, information is as important to a human as food and water.

How could any sensible person or section, therefore, be complacent and unmoved about the killing of journalists? This is the ‘overwhelming question’ which governments and civil societies need to urgently answer.

Could it be that journalists are ‘taken for granted’ by all and sundry? If so, this is a disconcerting trend which must be arrested without delay. It needs to be underscored that journalists are as vital to social well being as other important professionals and journalists’ organizations need to tirelessly work towards the greater professional acceptance of the ‘Fourth Estate’ and other sections of the media. Besides, journalists should acquire a greater awareness of their true worth as a category of professionals who are vital for the smooth functioning of society. They need to formulate codes of conduct for themselves, keeping these requirements in mind. Once done, journalists need to stick strictly to them. Under no circumstances should they be seen as ‘buyable’ by governments and other quarters.

But the taking of lives, whether those of journalists or of others, by criminal elements and other sections who act in contravention of the law, constitute extreme acts which need to be quelled and in no way condoned. It is up to the state and civil society to do this through a realization that their crucial interests are seriously compromised when Knowledge Workers, such as journalists, are killed or harmed. Let it be remembered that the silencing of journalists is integral to the ‘dismantling of democracy’ and the steady erosion of the rights of all.

It ought to strike the socially-conscious as highly ironic that journalists are tended to be killed with impunity in these times which are seen as an ‘Information Age’. There is an ‘Information Explosion’, enveloping the world and the journalist is instrumental in enabling the public to access this wealth of knowledge but he is seen as disposable by those who see themselves as threatened by the disclosures of the press. Sri Lanka is no stranger to these realities. The ‘White Van’ terror of yesteryear, for instance, bespoke the vulnerability experienced by sections of the then power elite in the face of journalistic disclosures.

Today, it is the services sector which is tending to be predominant in Southern economies and it is the knowledge of markets, delivered by Knowledge Workers, such as Journalists, which is proving pivotal in the sustenance of the services sector. Needless to say, knowledge is also vital in the growth of Research and Development activities the world over. Besides, new knowledge is proving crucial in value-addition processes in the manufacturing sector. Thus, is the ‘Information society’ brought into being.

But the journalist and media worker are seen as disposable by sections of the powerful in this ‘Information Age’ and civil society is tending to look the other way when the worst, thus, befalls the media. For reasons outlined in the preceding paragraphs, society and the state need to see that their vital interests are hit very severely when the journalist is harmed.

It should be clear that the state and society need to stir themselves into creating a world which is safe for the journalist. Time is not on their side.