The Tribune

TODAY marks World Press Freedom Day – when we reflect on the importance of a free press, something that Mahatma Gandhi called “a precious privilege that no country can forego”.

That may be so, but there are many countries where the press enjoys no such freedom, and where sometimes journalists pay the highest price in the course of carrying out their duties.

Not far away, in recent weeks two journalists have been killed in Haiti amid the ongoing gang violence affecting the country.

Radio reporter Dumesky Kersaint was shot dead in mid-April, while journalist Ricot Jean was found dead last week.

Kersaint was an online journalist for Radio Tele INUREP, and the “climate of tolerated and fueled violence” was blamed by the National Association of Haitian Media for contributing to his death.

Jean was reported by newspaper Le Novelliste to have been kidnapped and his body was found the next day. He worked for Radio-Tele Evolution Inter.

These are far from the only deaths that have taken place – with at least nine journalists reported to have been killed in Haiti last year.

It is no coincidence that the safety of journalists is at risk in a country that is wrestling with the ability to function as a democracy.

As the famed journalist Walter Kronkite said, “Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy.”

Here in The Bahamas, we must be thankful for the privilege we have – but also mindful of the constant need to ensure that it is upheld.

Intimidation and harassment are far from unknown in this country, with The Tribune having held the line on many occasions over the years when under great pressure. Even at the smallest level, there have been occasions where our reporters have been denied access to an event because a member of government has not liked how an article may have reflected upon them. That is the case even under this current administration.

For us, while we value what we have, we must constantly seek greater opportunities for our society.

That includes the need for greater transparency and accountability.

We can point at no end of cases where we still fall short in that regard.

Take a look at the Freedom of Information laws that have been much talked about, passed, and yet still languish with no sign of full implementation.

How about the public disclosure laws which require Parliamentarians to make their disclosures by a set deadline – yet long after that deadline has passed, we still do not know who declared, who did not, and if any action will be taken against those who broke the law.

Such transparency allows us all – citizen and journalist alike – to hold those in power to account. If freedom of the press means anything at all, then it means the ability to stand up and speak to power. As citizens, we must not be intimidated by our governments. As journalists, we must be able to seek answers of our leaders, and speak without fear of intervention.

Author and journalist George Orwell declared: “Freedom of the press, if it means anything at all, means the freedom to criticise and oppose.”

As we honour World Press Freedom Day, we must heed those words and not back down from our responsibility to live up to them.

After all, journalists have given their lives in the name of a free press. The least we can do is carry on in their name.