EDITORIAL - Threats to press freedom

The Philippines is no longer rated as the “most murderous” country in the world for journalists, and the second most dangerous after Iraq for media members. Yet the Philippines has dropped 11 notches in the latest global Press Freedom Index, falling to 139th place from last year’s 128th among 173 countries.

The annual list, drawn up by Reporters Without Borders, ranked Iceland at the top in upholding press freedom. At the bottom of the index were Eritrea, North Korea, Turkmenistan, Burma, Cuba, Vietnam, China, Iran, Sri Lanka, Laos, the Palestinian Territories, Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia.

Reporters Without Borders observed that peace rather than economic prosperity guaranteed press freedom. With national security under threat, freedoms were being eroded in democracies, Reporters Without Borders noted. Meanwhile, prosperous dictatorships “arrogantly proclaim their authoritarianism” amid international divisions and the global war on terror, the group added.

Another factor cited by the group for the erosion of press freedom was corruption. The problem “eats away at democracies,” the group said as it slammed “people who break the law to get rich and who punish inquisitive journalists with impunity.”

The Philippines’ ranking in the index is bound to slide further next year if Congress passes a law requiring newspapers to run the replies of people who become news subjects. Giving both sides of a story is a basic requirement in responsible journalism. But the amount of space devoted to opposing views in day-to-day coverage is better left to the discretion of the working press. There are also opinion pieces that, by their nature, are biased and cannot give equal space to the other side.

Readers know enough to see when a newspaper is unfair, biased, sensational and deliberately misleading in its inaccuracies. They have a way of punishing such a newspaper: they simply stop buying it. Those unfairly maligned also have a legal recourse: to sue for libel, which is a criminal offense.

Senators who feel they are not getting fair treatment from the press can always unburden themselves in a speech on the floor wherein they can attack anyone without fear of litigation. That is privilege enough, but now they want media control. If the so-called right to reply bill is passed into law, the Philippines will join the worst of the lot in next year’s press freedom ranking.