Background

Free Media for more Accountability

The fewer the constraints put on the press the more a country is able to develop and vice versa: The more heavily the press is gagged, the poorer the country will be. These facts have emerged from research about the impact of media on development.

Attacks on journalists that are not followed up do not happen by hazard.

They are part of a system. In authoritarian societies the media are the first to come under fire. The murder of a journalist is the ultimate form of censorship. Those who operate in this way fear the rights of the individual and the development of a society which consistently involve all its members at all levels.

The UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are a roadmap to fight and eradicate poverty. In 2000 the world leaders promised to halve the proportion of people whose income is less than a dollar a day by 2015. Progress has been made in some points but in many aspects the world is falling far behind the goals. It’s time to „break the record of broken promises“ says Eveline Herfkens, UN-founder of the UN-Millennium Campaign. They cannot be achieved without the help of the media. Therefore, who ever wants to meet the MDGs, has to insist on the media rights.

The Media – as important as education and investment

News media are forums for advancing political interests and also for controlling politics. A prerequisite for the achievement of the MDGs is the freedom of the media. It offers the opportunity to scrutinize good governance, the rule of law, helps to combat corruption and monitor accountability.

A global partnership (MDG No. 8) needs free, responsible and diverse media as partners in the North and South. According to a UNESCO-study free media are as important as education and investment for development policy.

Freedom of the press, freedom of speech and free access to information are vital for the implementation of the MDGs. Those elements are the core values of a society that relies on knowledge and wants to share it, in order to solve complex problems of today and tomorrow, so as to prevent wars and overcome conflicts.

For this reason the German office of the UN Millennium Campaign offers a blog with an online documentation on the vital importance of free media for more accountability and development.
The starting date for this new campaign is May 3rd, 2009, which is the World Press Freedom Day, as declared by the UN.

On this new site you will find amongst other things examples of the positive influence of the media on meeting the MDGs. Experts from different regions of the world will in future inform in their blogs on these topics.

Big brother activities

You are invited to participate in this campaign: You can forward information and blogs from this site to interested stakeholders in politics, academia and economics, as well as directly to political representatives in your region or friends. Start demanding that politicians and experts in international cooperation clearly link development policy to a firm commitment to support the media rights. Be active: Big brother is you, watching!

Be part of those who benefit

Freedom of the press, freedom of speech and free access to information are preconditions for progress. Media systems that allow practicing journalism in an independent, responsible and pluralistic way, so as to reflect the broad scale of interests and opinions, are pillars of democracies. Ensuring media rights are proven ways to belong to those who benefit from social and economical improvements, that free media bring along.