Written by Dionne Jackson Miller.
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One of the perhaps predictable responses to calls by the Press Association of Jamaica and the Media Association of Jamaica to exempt journalism entirely from the Data Protection Act has been to ask , “Who do they think they are?” and “Do they think they’re special?”
The very easy answer to that question is yes, we are! Not as individuals, but because journalism occupies a special, privileged position in democratic countries, because of the tremendous significance of freedom of the press.
Because parliamentarians refused to include a clause protecting the right to a free press in Jamaica’s Charter of Rights, the press rely on the right to freedom of expression. But still, the importance of the press as a subset claiming protection of that right is undeniable.
UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) said on World Press Freedom Day 2014:
“…a free, pluralistic and independent news media, on all platforms, is important for facilitating good governance and transparency. Within the much-broadened media landscape, news media still remain central conduits for ongoing public assessments of the activities of government and other institutions that have developmental impact … Only when journalists are free to monitor, investigate and criticise a society’s policies and actions can good governance take hold”.
This is a principle that has been recognised by courts, advocacy groups, and inter-governmental organisations for decades.
Jamaica has consistently ranked extremely high on the press freedom index developed every year by the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders, and successive governments have made few overt moves to curtail that freedom. This does not mean we can relax our vigilance, as freedom of expression is easily, and insidiously, undermined.
An excerpt from The Jamaica Gleaner, read full article here.