Author: Agencies/Seoul
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: November 12, 2002
Cautioning the democratic countries
to guard against exploitation of democracies by terrorists, India on Monday
called for a balance between the security interests and right to information
and speech.
"Strengths of democracies have been
exploited by terrorists. There is a need to find a balance between the
imperative of security and the right to information and speech," External
Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said while co-chairing a session on 'Media
and Democracy' at the 2nd ministerial conference of the community of democracies,
which opened here.
With media freedom, goes accountability
and responsibility and the issue has acquired greater urgency in the context
of terrorism, Sinha told foreign ministers and delegates from more than
100 countries, who have gathered here to draw a blueprint for the future
of global democracy.
Sinha suggested that through self-regulation,
the citizens' rights to objective and reliable information could be fulfiled
particularly in developing countries and in countries without 'plurality
and diversity' in media.
He said the relationship between
media and democracy was symbiotic and democracy was essential for media
freedom.
"At the same time, alert functioning
of media nurtures the democratic process," he said while stressing that
democracy is not merely elections or change in governments.
"Above all, it is the people's participation
in public affairs. For this, free media is essential," he said.
Sinha noted that there are many
aspects to the concept of freedom of media.
"The obvious aspect is freedom from
Government control," he said asking whether that alone was enough to ensure
press freedom.
In this context, he also cited editorial
freedom from ownership interests, other vested or sectional interests as
factors preventing freedom of the media.
The minister also talked about journalistic
ethics and integrity, which he said can only come when the journalists
are not exploited and they can remain professionals. He pointed out India's
experience in this field where the country had a press council and an independent
mechanism for fixing a remunerative package for journalists.
Sinha also talked about the impact
of globalisation and said it presented both opportunities and challenges.
He recalled that the warsaw declaration
passed by the community of democracies last year spoke of "right to information
regardless of frontiers."
"This implies that the global 'news'
comes home everywhere, in the era of satellite-based broadcasting. At the
same time, in an unequal world, it also implies that the priorities and
the values of some parts of the world overwhelm or dominate," Sinha said.
In order to ensure better equity and speed, Sinha said some form of self-regulation
might be required at the international level as well.
Meanwhile, in his opening address,
South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung said the greatest enemies of democracy
are war and terrorism and stressed the need to eliminate poverty.
