The role and importance of the media

Like many human skills democracy has to be practised to be maintained and improved. The rights and responsibilities which contribute to the strengthening of  our democracy and the institutions which make up our democracy should never be taken for granted and should undergo constant scrutiny. For this reason I would like to focus in this short address on the role and importance of the media.

 The media serve four very important functions:

1. They provide an outlet  and forum for the exercise of the fundamental right of free speech guaranteed by the Constitution in these terms:

“Except with his own consent, a person shall not be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions without interference, freedom to receive ideas and information without interference, freedom to communicate ideas and information without interference (whether the communication is to the public generally or to any person or class of persons) and freedom from interference with his correspondence.”

2. They serve in their own right as an institution of our democracy often referred to in larger democratic countries as the fourth estate. In our case, for the reason I will give, the media are in fact the third estate and all the more important for that reason. There are three main organs provided in theory for our governance - the Executive, consisting of the Prime Minister and Cabinet which administers the Government and determines policy; the Legislature consisting of the National Assembly (and in the case of Nevis, the Nevis Island Assembly) which makes laws; and the Judiciary which interprets and enforces the laws and protects the rights provided by the Constitution and other laws between the state and citizens, and between citizens. The effective operation of our democracy is said to depend on the separation of these three powers and their independence of each other. In practice however the Executive and Legislature are controlled by the same persons. There are in effect therefore two, not three powers or organs. This is where the media come in as the third estate. As the third estate the media provide checks and balances on the Executive and can contribute to greater transparency and accountability in governance.

3. The media provide a means of informing the public of news and matters of public importance.

4. The media provide a means of communicating political ideas and views.

The media are therefore a crucial organ in the practice of democracy. It is all the more so in our political culture in which politicians never admit mistakes and “spin” better than Shane Warne and Murali put together.

You will not find specific mention of the media in the Constitution but their role is implicit in the section of the Constitution, which I have read of the right to freedom of expression. In the same way you will find no mention of political parties anywhere in the sections of the Constitution dealing with the election of representatives and the appointment of a Prime Minister and Ministers of Government. Those sections refer to individual representatives who are free to ally themselves as they see fit. Political parties are therefore, like the media, implicitly recognised. The absence of a specific recognition of the role of the media does not therefore limit their legitimacy or their importance.

The fundamental right to use the media for public discussion and to air views on issues of public importance has been recognized on countless occasions by our Courts. The landmark case, to my mind, is the Anguilla case 10 years ago of Benjamin v Minister of Information and Broadcasting in which our own lawyer John Benjamin was a Plaintiff.  The facts were that John hosted a call-in programme on Radio Anguilla, the Government owned radio station. One of his callers raised a controversial issue of the national lottery.  John criticized the lottery and said that it was illegal. The Government suspended the programme to avoid further discussions on the issue. Although John had no position in Government or the station and no contract with the Government in relation to the programme and there was no time set for the programme to continue, the Privy Council upheld the ruling of the local Judge (Mr. Justice Saunders of St. Vincent, now a Judge of the CCJ) that the Government had breached the fundamental right to freedom of expression of John and two of his listeners who joined him in bringing the case. This is a landmark case in the entire Commonwealth because it involved the use of the Government radio station.

The Government was ordered to pay John damages and very substantial costs.

I wish to share with you one of the statements of law approved by the Privy Council in that case:

“That freedom of expression………..constitutes one of the essential foundations of a democratic society and one of the basic conditions for its progress and for each individual’s self-fulfilment. It is applicable not only to “information” or “ideas” that are favourably received or regarded as inoffensive or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb. Such are the demands of that pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no “democratic society”.

The Privy Council also acknowledged the role of the media as “the public watchdog”.

Our democracy is relatively young at 27 years, and capable of improvement. However, we only have to look at the daily TV news of the behavior of totalitarian leaders and Governments around the world to appreciate the value of our freedom of expression. Our media, as they exist, are even younger. Let us never forget that up to less than 15 years ago the only media (if you would dignify them with that term) were ZIZ and the political party rag sheets. ZIZ was and still is solely a mouthpiece for the Government of the day and makes no pretence of carrying any other view. In the last 15 years privately owned media, firstly in the form of newspapers and in the last 10 years radio stations, have been licensed and become active. One can expect therefore that the standards of practice by the media may not always be high or consistent. But that is no reason to disregard or disrespect the media. Likewise standards of governance are not always high or consistent. But we are still to respect those who govern.

I frequently cringe at what I hear on the radio stations but I will do all that I can to defend the right of free speech provided it does not infringe the law or defame anyone. I remember a few years ago writing for Winn FM, while on holiday abroad, a response to a Government Minister who referred to persons calling into the station as donkeys braying. I am pleased to see that now he is no longer a Minister. Dwyer Astaphan is frequently using the self same station and SKNVibes to communicate his message and views in exercise of his fundamental right of free speech.

I make these comments in the light of the recent spat between the media and Deputy Prime Minister Sam Condor over questioning at a press conference which he held. That followed his tirades against Winn FM during the recent election campaign. Clearly Sam has an ongoing grouse with the media. He has involved me by mentioning in his address at a public meeting on Labour Day a conversation we had following his press conference.

I have the greatest respect for the Deputy Prime Minister both as a man and as a Minister of Government. He is as well meaning a servant of this country as we could ever have. He has been played an extremely difficult card in the Ministry of National Security. It is to his credit that he has taken it on and I believe he will do his very best in the job. I call on him however to show greater respect for the media whatever his personal views may be of individuals within same. If he wishes to maintain respect for himself and his organ of our democracy, he must respect the other organs. As I told him in our discussion, he must use his intellect, wit and humour, with which he is well gifted, in dealing with the media rather than the hostility which he has recently shown and which if continued will inevitably lead to the impression that he is not a democrat and would prefer that the freedom of expression given in our Constitution did not exist.

I remind Sam of a famous quote on the media that “For a politician to complain about the press is like a ship's captain complaining about the sea”.

I give another quote on the importance of the media, this time from President John F. Kennedy:

“There is a terrific disadvantage in not having the abrasive quality of the press applied to you daily. Even though we never like it, and even though we wish they didn't write it, and even though we disapprove, there isn't any doubt that we could not do the job at all in a free society without a very, very active press.”

In closing I urge the media to be ever conscious of their role and power and the need to be professional, impartial and constructive in the exercise of its responsibility. You must have a code of conduct and discipline yourselves otherwise you limit your effectiveness in calling on others to behave properly. I urge you also always to factor in the national interest in your reporting. In the case of the radio stations, it is your duty to educate as well as to facilitate our relatively inexperienced public in the exercise of their right of free speech.

All should respect the media as a crucial organ of our democracy.