The Global Challenge of Media Freedom
Article written according to the point of view of Al Jazeera – Qatar newspaper. Cet article a été écrit du point de vue d’Al Jazeera.
Today in the parliament, the forum of freedom of expression discussed the subject of how much freedom journalists should be given. With many different nations represented by citizens, came many different opinions on the topic making it difficult for all countries present to come to a common conclusion.
Fact checking and the fight to define fake news
One of the biggest challenges faced between all citizens was the struggle to come to an agreed definition of certain terms. For instance the idea of fact checking being taken more seriously was brought up in the conversation of how incorrect something would have to be in order for it to be considered “fake news”. Would an article with a simple mistake such as an incorrect name be considered fake news?
The clash of cultures over speech in the parliament
Another point countries struggled to come to an agreement on was the idea of an international measure of how far freedom of speech should be allowed to go. Brought up by the citizens of China. Having a variety of cultures, social norms and government projects, an agreement seemed nearly impossible to come to. Venezuela in particular disagreed on the idea proposed by the citizens of China.
Overall this session highlighted the ongoing global need to find balance between freedom of expression and media. Whilst an agreement was not reached the nations will continue to communicate and work together to come to a general agreement.
Marion Akar, Terminale, Europa School UK
