Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Case for Press Freedom as a Human Right

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Press Freedom as an International Human Right

Abstract

This chapter addresses the relationship between press freedom and freedom of expression. It makes the case that press freedom matters as a right in itself due to its government oversight capacity, and that the right to freedom of expression is in fact meaningless without a free press, or the Fourth Estate. Since the free press fulfills several vital political and social functions, while also having access to a mass audience, it has a powerful influence on the government–citizen relationship. The chapter also highlights the importance of press freedom for promoting and protecting human rights.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alterman, Jon B. 2011. “The Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted.” The Washington Quarterly 34 (4): 103–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Altschull, J. Herbert. 1990. From Milton to McLuhan: The Ideas Behind American Journalism. New York: Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Article 19. 2013. The Right to Blog. London: Article 19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barendt, Eric. 1985. Freedom of Speech. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barry, Ellen. 2013. “Russia Seeks the Arrest of a Politician from Georgia.” New York Times, February 14. Accessed October 2, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/world/europe/russia-seeks-arrest-of-georgian-politician-givi-targamadze.html?ref=world&_r=0.

  • Blasi, Vincent. 1977. “The Checking Value in First Amendment Theory.” American Bar Foundation Research Journal 2 (3): 521–649.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bobbio, Norberto. 1989. Democracy and Dictatorship: The Nature and Limits of State Power. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bollinger, Lee C. 1986. The Tolerant Society. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bollinger, Lee C. 1991. Images of a Free Press. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandeis, Louis D. 1914. Other People’s Money: And How the Bankers Use It. New York: F.A. Stokes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlyle, Thomas. 1841. On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History. London: James Fraser.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chayes, Sarah. 2012. “Does ‘Innocence of Muslims’ Meet the Free-Speech Test?” Los Angeles Times, September 18. Accessed October 2, 2017. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/18/opinion/la-oe-chayes-innocence-of-muslims-first-amendment-20120918.

  • Commission on Freedom of the Press. 1947. A Free and Responsible Press. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Commission on Human Rights Drafting Committee. 1947. “Draft Outline of International Bill of Rights.” E/CN.4/AC.1/3. June 4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Copeland, David A. 2006. The Idea of a Free Press: The Enlightenment and Its Unruly Legacy. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • D’Angelo, Paul, John C. Pollock, et al. 2013. “Framing of AIDS in Africa: Press-State Relations, HIV/AIDS News, and Journalistic Advocacy in for Sub-Saharan Anglophone Newspapers.” Politics and the Life Sciences 32 (2): 100–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demers, David, and K. Viswanath, eds. 1999. Mass Media, Social Control, and Social Change: A Macrosocial Perspective. Ames: Iowa State University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Tocqueville, Alexis. 1840 [2007]. Democracy in America. Translated by Henry Reeves and edited by Isaac Kramnick, Norton Critical Editions. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dworkin, Ronald. 1996. Freedom’s Law: The Moral Reading of the American Constitution. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ECOSOC. 1946. “Report of the Commission on Human Rights to the Second Session of the Economic and Social Council.” E/38/Rev.1. May 21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gant, Scott E. 2007. We’re All Journalists Now. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garry, Patrick M. 1990. The American Vision of a Free Press. New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenwald, Glenn. 2014. No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State. New York: Metropolitan Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guseva, Marina, et al. 2008. Press Freedom and Development. Paris: UNESCO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallin, Daniel C., and Paolo Mancini. 2004. Comparing Media Systems: Three Models of Media and Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inter-American Juridical Committee. 1947. “Draft Declaration of the International Rights and Duties of Man.” E/CN.4/2. January 8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, Ronald N., and Eleanor Townsley. 2011. The Space of Opinion: Media Intellectuals and the Public Sphere. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jorgensen, Nick. 2009. “Impunity and Oversight: When Do Governments Police Themselves?” Journal of Human Rights 8: 385–404.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keita, Mohamed. 2012. “Africa’s Free Press Problem.” New York Times, April 15. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/16/opinion/africas-free-press-problem.html.

  • Leonard, Thomas C. 1986. The Power of the Press: The Birth of American Political Reporting. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levy, Leonard W. 1960. Legacy of Suppression: Freedom of Speech and Press in Early American History. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, Anthony. 1991. Make No Law: The Sullivan Case and the First Amendment. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipman, Maria. 2010. “Rethinking Russia: Freedom of Expression Without Freedom of the Press.” Journal of International Affairs 63 (2): 153–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meiklejohn, Alexander. 1965. Political Freedom: The Constitutional Powers of the People. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, Amy, Jeffrey Gottfried, et al. 2016. The Modern News Consumer: News Attitudes and Practices in the Digital Era. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muller, Judy. 2011. “Where Newspapers Thrive.” Los Angeles Times, September 13. Accessed October 2, 2017. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/13/opinion/la-oe-muller-weeklies-20110913.

  • Newspaper Association of America Foundation. 2005. Speaking of a Free Press: 200 Years of Notable Quotations About Press Freedoms. Vienna, VA: NAA Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nimmer, Melville B. 1975. “Introduction—Is Freedom of the Press a Redundancy: What Does It Add to Freedom of Speech?” Hastings Law Journal 26 (3): 639–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norris, Pippa. 2008. Driving Democracy: Do Power-Sharing Institutions Work? Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ottaway, Marina. 2000. “Democratic Reversals.” Georgetown Journal of International Affairs 1 (2): 113–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, Robert D. 2000. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • RJI Online. 2013. “Survey: Community Papers Still Tops for Local News.” Reynolds Journalism Institute, March 21. https://www.rjionline.org/stories/survey-community-papers-still-tops-for-local-news.

  • Rosen, Jay. 1999. What Are Journalists For? New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosen, Jay. 2003. “PressThink: An Introduction.” Last Modified September 1, 2003. Accessed October 2, 2017. http://archive.pressthink.org/2003/09/01/introduction_ghost.html.

  • Sen, Amartya. 1999. Development as Freedom. New York: Anchor Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sussman, Leonard R. 2001. Press Freedom in Our Genes: A Human Need. Reston, VA: World Press Freedom Committee.

    Google Scholar 

  • Themudo, Nuno S. 2013. “Reassessing the Impact of Civil Society: Nonprofit Sector, Press Freedom, and Corruption.” Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions 26 (1) (January): 63–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, Christopher. 2015. “Welcome to the Alternate Universe of Faux Democracy.” Washington Post, April 17. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/welcome-to-the-alternate-universe-of-faux-democracy/2015/04/17/e1569526-d7e9-11e4-8103-fa84725dbf9d_story.html.

  • West, Sonja R. 2011. “Awakening the Press Clause.” UCLA Law Review 58 (4): 1025–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkes, John. 1769. The North Briton. Vol. 1. London: W. Bingley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winston, Morton. 2015. “Preface.” In Journalism and Human Rights: How Demographics Drive Media Coverage, edited by John C. Pollock. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Economic Forum. 2016. Internet for All: A Framework for Accelerating Internet Access and Adoption. Geneva: World Economic Forum.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC), Venice, Italy

    Wiebke Lamer

Authors
  1. Wiebke Lamer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wiebke Lamer .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Lamer, W. (2018). The Case for Press Freedom as a Human Right. In: Press Freedom as an International Human Right. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76508-2_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation