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World Press Freedom Day: It hurts us all when journalists are not free
David Walmsley is the editor-in-chief of The Globe and Mail
This weekend’s press-freedom issue aims to engage and remind you, our readers, why journalism matters – and to convey what is lost when journalists are not free to do their jobs.
Press freedom is often taken for granted in countries where it exists, and is often not considered a priority in countries where it has never existed.
Press freedom comes in many guises. The ability to do our job because of strong ownership that ensures the business model can withstand economic disruption. The ability to do our job because the state is unsuccessful in its attempts to interfere or intimidate editors and reporters.
In Canada, effective laws, hard won, now exist to protect journalists and their confidential sources when they are acting in the public interest, of which there is a clear legal test. And it is to the credit of the federal government that it has joined with Britain to launch a global initiative this summer aimed at defending press freedom and protecting journalists. Among the proposals raised ahead of a London summit in July, is the idea of legislation that would make targeting a journalist an internationally prosecuted crime, regardless of which country the threat took place in.
Earlier this week, the second annual World News Day was held around the world. It is a Canadian-led initiative organized by the Canadian Journalism Foundation (of which I am chair), where news organizations big and small on all continents have the chance to put their audience on stage and encourage them to tell the story of how meeting a journalist changed their life.
Sometimes meeting a journalist is the first time someone feels their voice has been heard. Our industry’s ability to amplify what is important to the underrepresented has never been more important. At its best, journalism can make a real difference to those who need help.
But all we have is the power of the pen, and in some countries, the ink is running dry. That is what is chronicled, over and over, in this special weekend issue.
A long time ago, as a young reporter with The Belfast Telegraph, I covered the violence in Northern Ireland. Petrol bombs, paint tins and loose nails all rained down. Snooker balls make a terrible din when they hit bone, concrete and steel. Each sound, though, is different. Occasionally, I heard gunfire in the distance.
It was many things, but it was never fun, and I sometimes wondered what was the point. Was this really news? Why was I giving attention to a tiny minority of attention-seeking troublemakers? But I always returned to the same conclusion: It was a story, and it was my job to tell it. It could not be ignored. That will have been why, late last month, the young journalist Lyra McKee was covering a single-street riot in Derry City. She, too, had worked at “The Tele” and was sharing in real time what she was witnessing. Her coverage ended with her life, taken by a bullet to her head.
theglobeandmail
AM:11:48:04/09/2019
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