Thomas Hammarberg, below, launched the publication Human rights and a changing media landscape at a press conference in London, hosted by Article 19, on 8 December.
Impunity encourages further murders
“Journalists are murdered or threatened with violence, state authorities seek to control broadcast media and prevent access to government information. At the same time we have seen that unrestrained commercial ambitions can encourage a culture of illegal and unethical activity in the newsroom – as the News of the World phone hacking scandal demonstrated with shocking clarity”, added Hammarberg.
He highlighted the role media plays in exposing human rights violations and in offering an arena for different voices to be heard in public discourse.
Hammarberg argued that public service broadcasting is important to ensure media pluralism and counteract monopolies. He also underlined that every case of violence or threats against a journalist must be promptly and seriously investigated – impunity encourages further murders and has a chilling effect on public debate.
More...Also see:
Nobel Laureates in support of Liu Xiaobo, imprisoned for 11 years
PEN International Press Release for International Human Rights Day
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