A Right to Media? Lorie M. Graham - Columbia Law School

2010] A RIGHT TO MEDIA? 451
B. Media and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights
Beginning with the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the international community has regarded freedom of
expression and the right to information as inherent components of
mankind’s fundamental human rights. The importance of free
expression and the ability to access information and ideas through
media has had a similarly long history. This section demonstrates
how, under the rubric of a right to media, these norms are linked to
the actualization of other fundamental human rights of particular
relevance to indigenous peoples, including the right to nondiscrimination,
the right to cultural and linguistic integrity, and the
right to self-determination.
1. Role of Media in Combating Discrimination
Similar to other human rights, the media rights of expression
and information are essential components of the effective promotion
and protection of other important human rights. 83 The documents
discussed in this section are intended to illustrate the linkages in
international law between the principles of non-discrimination and
the rights of expression and information through media. These
linkages are particularly important within the context of Article 16 of
UNDRIP for two reasons. First, the media often plays a dangerous
role in perpetuating discrimination. Second, the media also occupies
a unique position that enables it to combat discrimination against
indigenous peoples.
The International Convention on the Elimination of all
Forms of Race Discrimination (the “Race Convention”) speaks
directly to the issue of non-discrimination and the right to freedom of
opinion and expression, connecting the advancement of these rights
to the prohibition and elimination of racial discrimination. Article 7
of the Race Convention goes one step further and imposes a duty on
States to “undertake to adopt immediate and effective measures,
particularly in the [area] of . . . information, with a view to combating
prejudices which lead to racial discrimination and to promoting
understanding, tolerance and friendship among nations and racial or
83. See Toby Mendel, Freedom of Information 1 (2d ed. 2008), available at
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/files/26159/12054862803freedom_information_en.pd
f/freedom_information_en.pdf.