Freedom of the press is generally held to be one of the cornerstones of an open and democratic society, but what does this freedom permit and protect? This week Baroness Onora O’Neill, Principal of Newnham College, reviews the classical arguments for press freedom when she gives Selwyn College's annual Ramsay Murray Lecture at the Faculty of Law on Friday (25 April).
Freedom of the press is generally held to be one of the cornerstones of an open and democratic society, but what does this freedom permit and protect? This week Baroness Onora O’Neill, Principal of Newnham College, reviews the classical arguments for press freedom when she gives Selwyn College's annual Ramsay Murray Lecture at the Faculty of Law on Friday (25 April).
Baronness O’Neill made headlines when she first tackled related issues in her Reith Lectures for the BBC. There she argued that a free press is not an unconditional good. For example, she suggested that freedom of the press does not also require a licence to deceive.
A free press is said to be necessary to establish and test the truth; necessary to support individual freedom of expression; and necessary to support the robust public debate required in any democracy. How well are these aims achieved by current configurations of press freedom?
Do the changes now being driven by transformations in communications technologies and by the emergence of global media conglomerates; she asks, require us to rethink press freedom?
She argues that:
"The best way to establish an acceptable form of press freedom would not seek to control what is published. Neither censorship or state propaganda is compatible with democracy."
"Press freedom is not the best way to seek or test truth, and that it is not a form of freedom of expression. Freedom of expression matters for individuals, and was closely linked to freedom of the press only while the press remained weak. Now that the press has become more powerful we need a different configuration of press freedom, that supports democracy and public debate, and allows citizens to judge matters for themselves.
"A reconfiguration of press freedom that is fit for our world must seek to maintain a plurality of voices by limiting concentration of ownership."
Press freedom that is fit for our world must also, Baroness O’Neill believes, find ways to regulate journalistic and editorial process that support accurate reporting and intelligent, assessable communication.
Ramsay Murray Lecture
Rethinking Freedom of the Press
25 April at 5.30pm
Room LG18, Faculty of Law Sidgwick Site
All welcome
Admission free
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