Four countries, one problem. Is independent media under threat?

by Andreea Tănasie and Margherita Maria Basanisi

The media is considered to be the fourth power in a state and certainly the strongest instrument in influencing public opinion, having the capacity to consolidate power, but also to destabilize it. It is or should be, the absolute pillar of reality, the objective and disinterested method of mass communication and information, the guarantor of freedom and the guardian of democracy. That is why we wish to focus on the meaning of independent journalism. But what does that actually mean?

Independent media should be characterized by the absence of fear in reporting, rather than by its presence. Journalists should be able to write about sensible and tabuu issues without any political and economical influences. Writing factual and truthful information has always been of utter importance, but nowadays, while reporting in crises, it becomes essential. Expressing freely sounds like something we should expect from journalists, but is it really like that?

As young students, we think that it is important to talk about the independence of journalism in order to defend the democratic principles that we believe in. In the last few years, the index for freedom has been in continuous descend. The rise of populism and fake news affected the credibility of the press and of the public sphere debate. Moreover, journalists are getting physically attacked and suffering injuries because of their wish to report on certain issues: Is this a symptom of a ‘democratic deficit’ in our societies?

In academia, people are discussing on the independence of media and its importance, but the question is, how do young people that do not have a professional connection to journalism perceive this issue? We decided to ask a few of them some questions.

We are now presenting a video created thanks to different students coming from Germany, Italy, Greece and Romania, in our pursuit of understanding different points of view about the independence of journalism.

So, what’s next?

Young people support journalism and the freedom of the press. Even if there are differences between countries, the commonalities are striking. The process of reporting in crisis has shown us how fragile our social fiber is and the fact that we have to acknowledge the difficulties that we are going through, in order to be able to solve them.

Highly politicised media agencies are propagating state-controlled news and, now more than ever, individual journalists feel the burden of fighting against them.

Support their fight for freedom!

Support their well being!

Support our democracy.