13 - The role of a free press in strengthening democracy

Summary

The United States has always placed a tremendous amount of faith in the ability of free and open communication to bring peace, stability, and justice to its people. It is ironic, then, that the American government has often failed to recognize the fundamental role of a free press in sustaining democracies everywhere, and in helping to build them where they do not exist. This role transcends national borders, ideological fashions, and short-term changes in political climate. Indeed, it is fair to say that the most basic goals of U.S. foreign policy – the promotion of liberty, the fostering of free-market capitalism, and the securing of American political and strategic interests around the globe – cannot truly be achieved without at the same time advocating freedom for the media worldwide.

Unhappily, administrations of both parties have, in the post–World War II era, been willing to accept varying degrees of suppression of press freedom on the part of friendly governments – from Great Britain to South Korea, from Chile to Liberia to Singapore, among many others – as the price of doing business in a world of realpolitik. In judging the degree of freedom in other countries, U.S. leaders preoccupied with elections (preferably conducted American style), often ignore more significant indices of free expression, most notably whether the news media are permitted to offer the people full and truthful information.