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

2010] A RIGHT TO MEDIA? 467
presented by a variety of media outlets. Sometimes also called
“community media,” the notion of media pluralism embraces the
concept of local content media, which is controlled by community
stakeholders. It presents information focused on issues of interest to
the community in a format and language which best reflects the
cultural values and concerns of the local community. The promotion
of media pluralism has been connected to other important aims such
as combating ethnic cleansing, addressing incitement to violence
against various groups, and undermining totalitarian regimes. The
value of media pluralism lies in the inherently democratic nature of
dispersing the power to “make news” into the hands of many. 138
The connection between a right to media under Article 16 of
UNDRIP and the movement for media pluralism is clear. In order for
a state to satisfy its obligations under international law, it must
foster freedom of expression and media diversity for all of its peoples.
The state’s obligation to ensure media pluralism is articulated in
provisions such as Article 2 of the ICCPR which calls on parties to
“adopt such legislative or other measures as may be necessary to give
effect to the rights recognized by the Covenant.” 139 This means that
the state is required not only to refrain from interfering with rights,
but also that it must take positive steps to ensure that these rights,
including freedom of expression, are respected.
Regional bodies such as the European Court of Human
Rights have similarly noted that “the fundamental role of freedom of
expression in a democratic society, in particular where, through the
press, it serves to impart information and ideas of general
138. For discussions of media pluralism, see id. (explaining UNESCO’s
high prioritization of the free flow of information and freedom of expression);
Office of the High Comm’r on National Minorities, Org. for Sec. & Cooperation in
Eur., Guidelines on the Use of Minority Languages in the Broadcast Media 16, 19
(2003), available at http://www.osce.org/publications/hcnm/2003/10/31598
_1160_en.pdf (discussing the particular attention that must be afforded to the
promotion of media pluralism); UNESCO General Conference, Paris, France, Oct.
21–Nov. 12, 1997, Records of the General Conference, Vol. 1 Resolutions, Sofia
Declaration at 63 (recalling the importance of free, pluralistic, and independent
press and resolutions to encourage press freedom, independent and pluralistic
media, and dissemination of information); UNESCO Seminar on Press Freedom,
Media Independence, and Pluralism, Windhoek, Namib., May 3, 1991, Windhoek
Declaration, para. 1, available at http://www.unesco.org/webworld/peace_library
/UNESCO/HRIGHTS/327-331.HTM (recalling that freedom of information is a
fundamental human right and declaring the importance of independent,
pluralistic, and free press).
139. ICCPR, supra note 36, art. 2.