The daunting challenge to the editorial integrity of the media is one of the major highlights of a new study on media independence by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) scheduled for release as part of the 2020 celebration of World Press Freedom Day
The preview of the new UNESCO study indicates that in recent years the news media have faced increased challenges to editorial independence largely due to the overbearing influence of private and state groups that abuse systems of regulation, ownership, advertising and finance.
This obvious ‘media capture’ has reflected negatively on the integrity of editorial independence and compromised the ability of many media workers to provide the public with necessary and vital information.
More worrisome, according to the report, was the resulting damage to the integrity of editorial independence, a development which has compromised the ability of many media workers to provide the public with vital information particularly on salient issues including the reportage of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The situation also brought to light the importance of free and independent media in reporting verified information to the public and in holding public authorities to account.
The culmination of these and other controls means that journalists seeking to follow professional standards have to stave off pressures and attacks from external actors as well as navigate power in their own outlets.
While the study shows how threats to professional independence have intensified, it also highlights the multiple efforts and initiatives that have proven successful in safeguarding independent journalism and provides recommendations for all stakeholder groups.
It underlines the importance of journalists standing up for professional standards, particularly in the context of disinformation.
The full study, titled “Reporting Facts: Free from Fear or Favour”, will be published later this year as an In Focus edition of the series World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development.
