British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt said today in London that accountability and oversight are the strongest protection against the dark side of government and that there are few institutions that can fulfill this role more effectively than the free media.
Hunt said that the fight for media freedom "is led every day by independent journalists in authoritarian states, vigilant bloggers who expose corruption and brave activists who publish evidence of human rights abuses."
"At the end of the day, we all have a choice. To tolerate the stifling of independent voices and the dangers of irresponsible government by ignoring threats. Or to defend our values and states, and 'flourish' thanks to the free exchange of ideas. By coming to this conference, each of us has made that choice", said Hunt in a speech delivered to the media.
He stated that 99 journalists were killed around the world last year, twice as many as a decade ago, that governments imprisoned another 348, and added that few perpetrators of these crimes are held accountable. Of the 46 journalists who died a violent death in 2008, after 11 years, only eight cases have been brought to light, said Hunt.
He also said that throughout history, mankind made the fastest progress when it allowed ideas to be freely discussed, tested and re-examined and added that "the ten countries with the freest media in the world produced 120 Nobel laureates - three times more than Russia and China together".
He stated that real accountability does not come from selective and theatrical crackdowns on corruption launched by authoritarian states, which mysteriously eliminate political opponents while leaving the biggest offenders untouched, but that it comes from the risk of exposure, from media that cannot be controlled or to bribe.
"The evidence for this is indisputable. Of the ten most 'orderly' countries in the world according to the Transparency International ranking, seven are also in the top ten on the World Media Freedom Index. On the other hand, of the ten most corrupt countries, four are among the last ten in terms of media freedom." said the head of British diplomacy.
He announced five practical steps that the British government will take with its partners - the formation of a new Global Media Defense Fund to be managed by UNESCO, the formation of an international working group to help governments meet their obligations on media freedom, the convening of a panel of experts to provide advice countries on strengthening the legal protection of journalists, creating a contact group of countries that will lobby in cases of attacks on media freedom and signing the "Global Pledge for Media Freedom".
Hunt singled out China and Vietnam as countries where journalists face major challenges.
"In China, automated censorship and the Great Firewall block access to thousands of news portals, with millions of people employed to censor content, fake social media posts and manipulate online debate. The first person to set up a human rights website in China, activist Huang "Qi was sent to prison in 2016, and nothing is known about him since the secret trial held in January," Hunt said.
He added that today's conference is attended by delegations from more than 100 countries, including 60 ministers and more than 1.500 journalists, scientists and activists.
"Never before have so many countries come together for this cause," Hunt said.
Bogdanović: Montenegro is committed to strengthening media freedom
Montenegro is committed to strengthening the freedom of the media and expression, which are the foundations of a democratic society, and on whose values Montenegro sees its European future, announced the Minister of Culture Aleksandar Bogdanović.
At the global conference on media freedom in London, he said that the European Commission recognized the level of legislation in the audiovisual media field with the implementation of the European legal heritage as a "good level of legal compliance".
"Bogdanović pointed out that Montenegro is continuously committed to strengthening the freedom of media and expression, which is a fundamental human right and the foundation of a democratic society, on whose values Montenegro sees its European future," said the Ministry of Culture.
Bogdanović added that, precisely at the proposal of the EC, Montenegro was the first country in the region in which, with the support of experts from the European Union and the Council of Europe, the project "Strengthening judicial expertise on freedom of expression and media in Southeastern Europe" was implemented.
"According to the information adopted by the Government on that occasion, the degree of fulfillment of the recommendations of the subject analysis is at an extremely high level, whose main guidelines are the development of a media policy that promotes and improves freedom of expression as a key goal," he said.
Bogdanović also said that thanks to the complete decriminalization of defamation and insult, Montenegro has achieved the standards of media freedom.
Thus, he added, it is ranked among the few countries in the region and beyond that have taken that step, which best speaks of activities to improve the overall environment of media freedom.
Bogdanović pointed out that since the opening of negotiations with the EU, the Government has bought the debts of commercial broadcasters in the amount of seven million euros on a non-discriminatory basis.
It is. as he stated, another example of support for the development and protection of media pluralism.
"Creating the necessary conditions for media freedom and the sustainability of self-regulation, in the same period the Government provided a three-year transparent and independent financing model for self-regulatory bodies, which will be recognized by the new legal solutions as mandatory support for internal and external self-regulatory bodies," said Bogdanović.
He said that Montenegro will remain fully committed to regularly updating the Platform of the Council of Europe for the Protection of Journalism and the Safety of Journalists, in relation to the complaints that are part of that platform.
"On the sidelines of the conference, Bogdanović met with the OSCE High Representative for Media Freedom, Harlem Desir, with whom he exchanged information on the dynamics and current activities of media reform in Montenegro," the statement added.
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