A sajtószabadság után

Abstract

Beyond Freedom of the Press

We hold it self-evident that freedom of the press is an inseparable part of the freedom of speech, inherent to the freedom of thought and conscience. Press is referred to as the “fourth power” or “watchdog” and held to play a key role in the functioning of a democratic society. This functional approach can be detected also in the relevant case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, which offers an enhanced degree of protection to political speech and the critique of public officials.
However, with the changing of the publicity paradigm, it is becoming more and more evident that the classic media model does not exist (anymore). Instead of ensuring a forum for public debates, the mainstream media concentrates in filter bubbles or echo chambers along with political and economic interests, and attempts to land their owners’ messages. Editors and journalists who are clinging on to the “watchdog” role, are increasingly losing ground in the classical media space and taking refuge in “new media’s” publicity.
At the same time, the disappearance of the classical media’s mass nature, and the democratization of information are relativizing most of the narratives upon which communities are constructed. This phenomenon is offering great substratum to propaganda that attempts to liquidate the remaining few chances of public debate in mainstream media. While in the classic model of publicity media regulation attempted to prevent the state from seizing the press, i.e. to prevent those holding information monopoly from abusing that monopoly, in the new model this pursuit seems less relevant.