A senior editor of India-based national daily The Hindu defined press freedom as a "mix of the two rights of freedom of expression and the right to carry on a business".

In his paper entitled 'The Nature and Purpose of a Free Press', N Ravi said it is the freedom to disseminate news, information and views with access to public authorities and other bodies.

"The more information there is in the public domain the more effective would the media be and, in this context, freedom of information laws are of great value," he told about 100 people attending the World Press Freedom Day event in Kuala Lumpur today.

Advocating freedom of information laws, he said a right to information law, as opposed to freedom of information, has been introduced through the Indian Parliament.

Press freedom, he said, also included the commercial freedom to print and circulate news papers with the attendant business freedom.

"Ideally, a free press ought to be allowed to set its own agenda without being dictated to from the outside and freedom of expression carries with it the right not to publish as well," he noted.

An award-winning journalist who has been with The Hindu since 1972, Ravi said journalistic virtues of truth-telling, fairness, objectivity, intellectual depth and diversity must be balanced with higher values such as promoting peace, tolerance, justice and giving voice to the powerless.

Free press and human rights

He also noted the prevailing tension between a free press and human rights advocates.

"In the first place, human rights advocacy demands a certain commitment and a passionate espousal of good causes that cannot be found in the disembodied neutral voices of journalists.

"Journalism tends to be largely value-neutral, with its insistence on getting all sides of a story and while there is still plenty of room to write with a great deal of sensitivity and feeling, and made a deep impact on public opinion, the demands of objectivity need to be kept in mind."

The forum themed 'Media and Good Governance' was jointly organised by the Asian Institute of Development Communication (Aidcom), the National Press Club and the Malaysian Press Institute. The Embassy of Finland sponsored the event.

Speaking on the major challenges ahead, Ravi said the biggest would be to defend the powerless and the voiceless particularly victims of human rights abuses which, when reported, would "shock societies into putting protective mechanisms in place".

Another one, he said, is seeking to prevent international wars and local conflicts.

"... this is by vigorously challenging purveyors of hate and false propaganda, keeping a vigil over the actions of government and public officials who might be out to mislead their nations."

He believed that the media's own socially-useful role of averting conflicts and focusing on poverty eradication would itself strengthen the value of press freedom.

For the first time, Aidcom changed the format of its eighth annual WPFD event to introduce six public and private university students to speak on the concept of press freedom to gauge what today's youths think of it.

There were mixed views on press freedom, with some of the student speakers arguing that the status quo is acceptable, while others called for greater freedom.

There was also a panel comprising Malaysian chapter of Transparency International president Param Cumaraswamy, journalism professor Dr Mohd Safar Hashim, Sin Chew Media Corp editorial legal advisor Chan May May and New Straits Times deputy chief news editor Balan Moses.

May 13 reminder

Commending Aidcom for including this segment, Param described it as "refreshing" to hear from the young people but noted that some still raised concerns over open discussion of sensitive subjects.

"After 50 years of living in a plural society, are we so fearful to speak freely? Do we have to be reminded of May 13 all the time?"

Citing last week's debate on moral policing by the state, he admitted to being impressed with the free speech demonstrated by the youths, saying that it augurs well for the country to have such open discussions.

Chan, noting the scant mention by the student speakers of media laws, said these were like the Sword of Damocles hanging over the head of journalists.

"One good point raised here is to revamp the public education system to encourage more critical thinking among the masses."

Presenting the industry's perspective, Balan said newspapers were a business and not charity organisations.

"The constraints are laws as well as what shareholders want because at the end of the day, we are answerable to them.

"But I must say that the media's watchdog role is still there and done relatively well," he said, adding that he supported greater freedom so that "I can also write more".

Acknowledging the student speakers' points calling for greater freedom and more responsible reporting, Mohd Safar said this is where freedom of information law becomes important to Malaysia.

The jury panel said the student speakers had been unable to express their views in full, possibly due to the wide topic and limited time.

Earlier, United Nations acting resident co-ordinator Gaye Phillips and Unesco director-general Koichiro Matsuura both expressed, among others, the importance of public support and protection for journalists coupled with a safe working condition.

They noted the large number of journalists killed in the line of duty around the world.

Also present were Aidcom chairperson Mazlan Nordin, senior editors from major local dailies, representatives from the diplomatic corp and students.