Journalism is a public good and we must protect it

    13-Nov-2022
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Vijay Garg
Media and journalism are important for any vibrant democracy. With the progress in technology now things have moved beyond the traditional media or way of journalism. Digital media and web media and even social media have become more popular but at the same time there is importance of journalism which can bring many positive changes.
The trust on journalism has been down in recent times due to few individuals or organisations that brought bad names in the name of journalism.  We should not forget that from 2016 to the end of 2020, 400 journalists were killed for their work or while on the job and globally 274 journalists were imprisoned in 2020, the highest yearly total in three decades. Only 13 percent of cases recorded by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) since 2006 are currently considered judicially resolved and 73 percent of women journalists surveyed had experienced online violence in the course of their work.
Ending impunity for crimes against journalists is one of the most pressing issues to guarantee freedom of expression and access to information for all citizens. Between 2006 and 2020, over 1,200 journalists have been killed for reporting the news and bringing information to the public.                (To be contd)