Reykjavík Grapevine - 20.05.2016, Qupperneq 16

Hard Times for
International Journalism
Words SMÁRI MCCARTHY Photo ART BICNICK
Amidst all the talk of tax havens and po-
litical leaders caught hiding undisclosed
assets offshore, it is easy to lose track
of the difficult situation journalism is
faced with.
Although the International Consor-
tium of Investigative Journalists and
its partners made a major impact with
the production of the Panama Papers
story—which over the weeks since its
publication has led to the resignation
of political figures in Iceland, Armenia,
and Spain—the sad truth is that almost
all journalism is currently subject to an
ever-worsening legal environment, and
a tightening economy.
If this trend continues, quality jour-
nalism may slowly fade into obscurity
as the remnants turn to vapid articles
with politically insipid content, served
as clickbait.
At the heart of the problem lies an
international free speech environment
that was created to protect and regulate
the print industry, centuries ago. Many
of the laws read as foolish at best now, as
even the best ones fail to anticipate the
needs of a society where anybody can
publish anything in an instant and make
it available to virtually everybody on
the planet. Archaic laws requiring cop-
ies of any printed
publication to be
handed to the na-
tional archives, or
provided to the lo-
cal police to guard
against sedition,
are hopelessly im-
potent against the
realities of mod-
ern technology.
Some of the good
intentions are still
relevant, but the
implementation
needs to be recon-
sidered.
The threats to
free speech posed
by despots and ty-
rants are now eas-
ily confused with
threats coming from supposedly liberal
democracies: the Turkish government
is persecuting journalists, but so are the
governments of Germany, Luxembourg,
and the UK, while whistleblowers have
been persecuted and imprisoned by the
US.
Previously
Some years ago
now, the Icelan-
dic parliament
decided to draw a
line in the sand.
It unanimously
adopted a resolu-
tion proposing
to modernize
laws relating to
freedom of ex-
pression, privacy
protections, gov-
ernment trans-
parency and the
protection of
journalistic pro-
cesses.
However, this work has stalled un-
der the right-wing government elected
in 2013—the former head of which,
Smári McCarthy
lives in Sarajevo,
where he conducts
research on organ-
ised crime and glob-
al corruption. Smári
is a co-founder of
the Icelandic Pirate
Party and is also a
chairman of IMMI
(the International
Modern Media
Institute).
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 6 — 2016
16
Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, was
implicated in the Panama Papers. Al-
though nominally the work has been
led by Minister of Education Illugi Gun-
narsson, none of the many bills which
have been written have been brought to
parliamentary debate. Paying lip service
to a value is easier than taking action to
preserve it.
Instead of pushing an ambitious
plan to strengthen the country’s stance
on protection of fundamental human
rights, Iceland’s right-wing government
has allowed the country to sink from #1
on Reporters Without Borders’ World
Press Freedom Index, to #19. Mean-
while, public trust is incredibly low and
calls for anti-corruption measures such
as transparency and media freedom
grow louder.
Not all of the problems facing journal-
ism will be fixed in one fell swoop. But the
upcoming elections in Iceland, spurred by
a great work of investigative journalism,
foster the possibility that the next gov-
ernment of Iceland will finally fulfill the
promise of a free speech haven.
The International Modern Media In-
stitute, founded in 2011 to promote such
a haven and the development of media
protections globally, is now seeking
funds to put this discussion at the fore-
front of the coming elections in Iceland,
and to guarantee that the Switzerland of
Bits becomes a reality.
SHARE: gpv.is/hard
the Turkish
government
is persecuting
journalists,
but so are the
governments
of Germany,
Luxembourg,
and the UK
At the heart of
the problem lies
an international
free speech
environment
that was created
to protect and
regulate the
print industry,
centuries ago.
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