FOCUS ON THE AMERICAS - International Press Institute

Foreword
In ‘Ostensible Democracies’
of the Western Hemisphere,
Threats to the Press Loom Large
By Dan Rather
If someone were to have asked me 50 years
ago, at the beginning of my career, “What is
the biggest threat to the freedom of the
press in the United States and around the
world?”, my answer would have been one
word: Government. Whether it was the
state-controlled media on the other side of
the Iron Curtain, the dictatorships in many
parts of the developing world, or even the
reluctance of my own government to be
completely open and honest with its press
corps (and by extension its citizens), the
hand of the state - visible or invisible - was
often what prevented reporters from doing
their job of getting to the truth.
Today, unfortunately, many of those challenges
still remain, but the threats to press
freedom are much more complicated and
oftentimes much harder to see. That
makes combating them all the more vital.
There was a time when fighting for the
freedom of the press was largely a question
of making governments more open
and accountable. Now, the battlefield is
more spread out. Increasingly, it can be
found in corporate headquarters, courtrooms
and even the morgues.
New technologies have made the strict
government control of the past much more
difficult. You can’t be part of the world
economy and completely control the transmission
of information across your borders.
We have seen many cases of that recently;
in Iran, for example. And I believe
the march of technology will continue to
make it difficult for a government to cut off
information from its people.
Many in the press world are optimistic that
the inherent democratic decentralization
of the Internet will usher in a much more
open exchange of ideas, that more voices
will be heard. I share in much of this hope,
but since a big role of the press is to challenge
the powerful, we would be kidding
ourselves if we felt that those with the
power and influence could not find a way
of adapting to the new realities.
And that’s why I think that the Western
Hemisphere, of all places, is a good place to
consider the challenges of the future. On
the surface, it would seem that this is a part
of the globe where journalism is in relatively
good shape. All the countries, with
the exception of Cuba, are ostensibly
democracies with some sort of a free press
enshrined in law. Furthermore, these are
not isolated nations. They are largely economically
integrated in the world economy
and their borders are open. This is a
diverse hemisphere in terms of wealth, ethnicity
and size. And I think that three of the
biggest emerging challenges to the press
can be found here.
Two of these are not exactly new, but are, I
think, of increasing concern. One is violence.
Journalism has always been a dangerous
profession, and not just in war
zones. But, from the border towns in Mexico
to the civil strife in Colombia, journalists
are increasingly targeted. Beyond the
individual tragedies of murders like these,
there is a strong element of terrorism at
work. And this cannot be considered only
as a local form of terrorism. Since new
technology allows reporters to share their
stories with the world, when one of them is
silenced we all lose an immediate eyewitness.
Journalism has the power to change
policy and draw attention to the darkest
corners of our societies. Those who are
killing these journalists know that. We
must call them the terrorists they are and
pursue them with the vigilance with which
we pursue any other sort of terrorist.
The second challenge is the use of courts to
silence the press. Laws have always been a
tool for governments to control the free
flow of information, but the Americas are
currently seeing a crackdown on legitimate
news outlets, even as (or perhaps because)
effective government control of information
is becoming increasingly difficult.
Press freedom was enshrined in the United
States Constitution specifically, even beyond
the free speech rights that accrue to
every American. Still, in courtrooms across
the country, as well as in Latin America,
that freedom is under attack.
In the two regions, it tends to take different
forms. In Latin America, most notably of
late in Peru, criminal libel laws frequently
are used to silence critics of the
powerful. In the United States, the Obama
administration has continued the Bush Administration’s
pursuit of government
whistleblowers. The Department of Justice
also re-issued a subpoena for a New York
Times reporter to reveal a source used in a
book on the CIA. And, most chillingly to
the press, it appears the administration is
looking at invoking the vaguely-worded
1917 Espionage Act, which criminalizes releasing
anything the leaker (or, perhaps,
journalist) has “reason to believe could be
used to the injury of the United States”. The
issue is Wikileaks, and whatever one thinks
of this case, the nature of the act does not
distinguish between controversial groups
like Wikileaks and respected institutions
like The New York Times.
The third major challenge doesn’t confront
the press with the immediacy of the other
two, but I fear its effects will be more farreaching.
The economic threat to journalism,
as we know and cherish it, is real and it’s
only getting worse. Newspapers are being
driven out of business. And there is a consolidation
of media companies, often owned by
corporations that have no interest in the
noble ideals of challenging the powerful and
following the truth no matter where it leads.
In fact, many of these corporations have just
the opposite motivations: They are concerned
about maximizing shareholder value
and not offending government entities in
charge of their regulation.
What this means is fewer reporters covering
everything from local zoning boards to national
legislatures. It means fewer investigations
and coverage of foreign stories. The
head of the United States Federal Communications
Commission, Michael Copps, re-
Dan Rather - Photo by John Filo
cently said: “We have to reverse that trend,
or I think we are going to be pretty close to
denying our citizens the essential news and
information that they need to have in order
to make intelligent decisions about the future
direction of their country.” Yes, the Internet
has opened up many avenues of expression,
but the primary currency of the
press is information, not opinion.
Journalism is, by nature, a mixture of optimism
and skepticism. We believe in its
power to improve governance and the
human condition, even as we are taught to
question authority and what we’re being
told. We are now presented with new challenges
and opportunities, and we must be
honest about the impediments but be determined
to continue the fight.
Dan Rather served as anchor and managing editor of
CBS Evening News from March 9, 1981 to March 9,
2005, the longest such tenure in U.S. broadcast journalism
history. In 2006, he founded the company,
News and Guts, and became anchor and managing
editor of HDNet’s “Dan Rather Reports,” which specializes
in investigative journalism and international
reporting. Rather began his career in journalism in
1950 as an Associated Press reporter in Huntsville,
Texas, and worked for several radio and television
stations in Houston before joining CBS News in 1962
as chief of its Southwest bureau in Dallas. During his
44 years with CBS News, Rather helped found the
programs, “48 Hours” and “60 Minutes II.” He was a
correspondent for “60 Minutes” from 1975-81, and
again in 2005-06, and a correspondent for “60 Minutes
II” from 1999-2005. His regular contributions to
CBS News Radio included “Dan Rather Reporting,” a
weekday broadcast of news and analysis on the CBS
Radio Network, from 1981-2004. Rather held many
other prestigious positions at CBS News, including
anchor of the documentary series “CBS Reports” and
the weekend editions of the CBS Evening News. He
also served as the CBS News bureau chief in London
and Saigon and was the White House correspondent
during the Johnson, Nixon and Ford administrations.
Over his long career, Rather has covered virtually
every major news event of the past 50 years. He has
interviewed every U.S. president from Dwight D.
Eisenhower to Barack Obama, and virtually every
major international leader of the past 30 years. He
has received numerous Emmy and Peabody Awards.
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