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

2010] A RIGHT TO MEDIA? 437
This right to media is centered on the right to freedom of
expression and the related right to seek and receive information. As
discussed more fully below, the rights to freedom of expression and
information have long been recognized as fundamental rights. 22
Because media is the main source of expression and information for
the public, freedom of expression and information applies with
particular force to the media. 23 As one regional treaty body notes, “[i]t
is the mass media that make the exercise of freedom of expression
[and information] a reality.” 24 The Special Rapporteur on the
Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and
Expression explains further that “one of the best guarantees of
respect for the rights to freedom of expression and information lies in
the existence of independent media, electronic and print, in which
ownership is diversified.” 25
While Article 16 of the UNDRIP appears to be an iteration of
the rights of freedom of expression and information, it is
distinguished from these rights as articulated in prior international
documents in that it is formulated from an indigenous perspective.
This is so for the reasons previously noted; these fundamental rights
to information and expression have been consistently denied to
indigenous peoples. One way in which indigenous peoples have been
restricted from exercising these rights has been through their
exclusion in media. That is to say that mainstream media sources,
controlled by non-indigenous companies or states, were directed in
such a way as to disenfranchise and discriminate against indigenous
peoples, both by denying them a voice in the public domain and by
discussed at the international expert group meeting on indigenous languages)
[hereinafter Legal Framework and Indigenous Languages].
22. See infra Part III. While the right to receive information remains
unsettled in some domestic spheres, it is a firmly established right under
international conventional law. See infra note 45 and accompanying text.
23. Article 19: Global Campaign for Free Expression, Note on the
Indonesian Press Law 2–3 (2004).
24. Compulsory Membership in an Association Prescribed by Law for the
Practice of Journalism (Arts. 13 and 29, American Convention on Human Rights),
Advisory Opinion OC-5/85, Inter-Am. Ct. H.R. (Series A) No. 5, para. 34 (1985)
[hereinafter Compulsory Membership].
25. ECOSOC, Comm’n on Human Rights, Question of the Human Rights of
All Persons Subjected to Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, 17, U.N. Doc.
E/CN.4/1998/40 (Jan. 28, 1998) (prepared by Mr. Abid Hussain) [hereinafter
Human Rights During Imprisonment].