PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY - Inter-Parliamentary Union

50 I PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
(6.3) Inaccurate reporting should not be considered as contempt of
Parliament. Contempt should be reserved for serious cases of interference
with Parliament’s ability to perform its functions.
(8.2) Questions of eligibility for media access should be determined by
the media itself. Parliaments should retain the right to suspend access
for media representatives who violate Standing Orders or otherwise
disrupt parliamentary proceedings.
(9.2) Criminal laws inhibiting free speech……should be revoked.
To these recommendations could usefully be added a principle from Article
19’s publication on defamation, referring to the right of journalists to refuse to
name their sources, which of course has general applicability beyond defamation
cases: ‘It is well established that the guarantee of freedom of expression
entitles journalists, and others who disseminate information in the public interest,
to refuse to disclose the identity of a confidential source.’
Further online reading about freedom of expression and parliam ents:
Article 19 (2000). Defining defamation: principles on freedom of expression and
protection of reputation.
Inter-Parliamentary Union (2005). Seminar for chairpersons and members of
parliamentary human rights bodies on freedom of expression, parliament and the
promotion of tolerant societies: summary and recommendations presented by the
rapporteur of the seminar.
Media regulation
A final issue to consider in the relations between the media and parliament
is parliament’s responsibility for setting the regulatory framework within
which the media operate. This framework typically covers questions of
ownership and control as well as considerations of content. Although this
subject is a complex one, and media technologies are rapidly changing, the
principles governing what the public requires from the media in a democratic
society are relatively simple: accurate information, a variety of viewpoints and
opinions, and respect for the equal dignity of all citizens. Naturally such
principles also bear on the reporting of parliament itself, on political parties
and individual parliamentarians.