The Role of Journalists in Defending Human Rights - Essay Example

Journalism is the profession dedicated to gathering information about a or current event in order to prepare the information to be presented in a professional manner to the general public through the use of a mass media medium. The main mediums the media utilizes are written press, television, radio and the internet. Journalists write stories about different aspects of society. Journalism work has been performed since the 15th century when the written press was invented (NesSmith 113). Professionals in this field are very influential figures in our society since they have the power to express their ideas and findings through the mass media which has the ability to reach millions of people worldwide. The power and the ability to make a difference enabled journalist to impact human rights movements worldwide. The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the role journalism plays in human rights. Human rights have been at the forefront of the civil movements especially the second half of the 20th century when societies and deprived social groups battled to gain the basic human every human on earth deserves. The press whose purpose is to report stories about the things occurring in a society. The media has played a very important role in influencing change and helping human rights movements. The first step towards making society realize that a problem exists is to inform the general public on the existence of that problem. Journalists are the persons that cover the story to raise public awareness. There are media channels that dedicate a large portion of their coverage towards human rights issues. One World Broadcast, a non-profit venture in England, offers a global multinational and multilingual news service dedicated to human rights, sustainable development and the environment (Klotzer 26). There are different journalist that have dedicated their careers to covering particular human rights movements in order to make a different in the lives of the victims of different deviant behaviors of certain humans that violate the rights of others. One such journalist that lives and covers stories in the country of Guatemala is Marielos Monzon. This inspiring journalist covers controversial human rights topics such as the massive murdering of women in her country and women whose livelihood is threaten by the Central American Free Trade Agreements (Murray 33). Mrs. Monson works these stories under distress since her life has been threaten on various occasions for defending human rights. In 2005 Marielos Monzon received the Amnesty’s Special Award of Human Rights Journalism (Murray 33). Just as Mrs. Monzon faced danger for her coverage of human rights stories many other journalist face similar situations in their search for the truth when dealing with human rights violations. The toughest territories to cover stories concerning human rights are battle zones. Freedom of speech is the basis that protects journalism in their effort to break a story. In a country such as Iran it is more difficult for a journalist to deliver a story since the government controls the masses and any information regarding injustices and violation of human rights is perceived an act of treason with the purpose of painting a black picture of the Islamic Regime (Omid, 44). In this of environment a journalist job despite being extremely hard and placing the person in danger when covering controversial topics the rewards can be greatest for the journalist since his work can lead to major social change and the acquisition of additional human rights westerners take for granted. Journalism efforts have helped human rights movements in different nations across the world. During times of war journalism keep the public informed to ensure no violations of human rights occur. In Iraq journalists were instrumental in revealing major violations that occurred in a prison in Abu Ghraib. In this unfortunate case the residents in this prison were being physically, mentally and sexually abused by American military and civil contractors in charge of the administration of the prison. The types are acts that occurred in this prison are prohibited by the Geneva Convention. An insider turned to the media to reveal the scandal. It is very probable that the person that leaked the video evidence of the violation did not trust Iraqi or American governmental officials due the possibility of corruption and governmental policies to minimize collateral damage. The informant turn to the journalist working in the press to ensure the story was made public and the abuse of prisoners stopped immediately, which it did after the story was released to the general public. This case is a perfect example of the power of the media and how the public at times trust the media more than their own government to ensure justice is serve in cases of human rights violations. In 1991 George Holiday took a video of a police arrest in which the law enforcement officers violated the human rights of a civilian named Rodney King. Mr. Holiday released the video to the press which lead to the infamous Rodney Trial that eventually lead to tragic L.A. Riots after the unjust innocent verdict. Mr. Holiday who served the role of a journalist when he had the courage of taking the police abuse video inspired a group of residents in Eastern Missouri to do same in the 21st century. On June 20th 2007 a group called Project Vigilant had a press conference to announce their plans to battle back against police abuse in the St. Louis area by providing residents in the area with camcorders to record police activity in area and ensure human rights are no longer violated (Atherton 12). This group created their own media channel and is ready to pass along any video evidence they obtain to the mass media and professional journalist as soon as the evidence is recorded. The journalism profession in general has done a great job of covering human rights movements and helping the victims reveal abuses against their human dignity. The media is a very large network and competition is fierce in this industry. Unethical behavior within the journalism profession at times occurs and instead of the journalist helping protect human rights the media itself has been the human rights oppressor and has violated the human rights of innocent people. Yahoo Inc. is being sued by the World Organization for Human Rights for their alleged involvement of providing information through their media channels on dissidents to the Chinese government that to their persecution, torture and imprisonment (Christopher 14). Privacy issues is a big area in which journalist have been accused of violating human rights in many countries. In the United Kingdom supermodel Naomi Campbell was the victim of a human rights violation from a journalist. Mrs. Campbell was on her way to a private substance abuse anonymous meeting when a journalist took advantage of her star status and took a picture of her entering the meeting and published the photo along with an article in a magazine. This action was a clear violation of Mrs. Campbell’s privacy. The courts agreed when the case when to court saying the journalist violated her privacy which is protected by the Human Rights Act of 1998. In other parts of the world such as in the country of Taiwan journalist has a very bad reputation among the general population and has been accused of constantly breaking human rights in privacy issues and the right of a person to refuse an interview (World News Connection). Journalism has helped battle against injustices that violate human rights in many parts of the world. The journalism work has inspired many civilians to battle against oppressors causing human suffering. The professions needs to keep remind itself of the important service they are providing to the community and must keep their own ethical standards high to avoid violating human rights themselves in their coverage of stories. The world needs the press to continue revealing stories and providing insightful information that educates the masses. Works Cited Atherton, K. “ACLU cameras to watch police”. Journalism Review 37.297 (June 2007). 3 October 2007. EBSCOhost database. Christopher, L.C. “Tough Times for Newspapers”. Analyzing Publishing Technologies 7.9 (3 May 2007). 3 October 2007. EBSCOhost database. Klotzer, Z. “A global review alternative”. Journalism Review 36.283 (February 2006). 3 October 2007. EBSCOhost database. Murray, J. “It Could have Been Me”. New Statesman 135.4798 (26 June 2006). 3 October 2007. EBSCOhost Database. NesSmith, W.C. “Social Sciences: An Introduction”. Harcout Brace & Company. 1995. Omid, M. “Courage Can Been Pushing Gradually Against Boundaries in Iran”. Nieman Reports 60.2 (Summer 2006). 3 October 2007. EBSCOhost database. World News Connection. “CAN Humans Rights Seriously Abused in Taiwan Media: Mediawatchers”. 4 August 2006. 3 October 2007. EBSCOhost database. Read More