Civil society and freedom of the press

David Green, 19 March 2013

In the great struggle now taking place over press freedom, the choice is not between self-regulation and political regulation. It is between regulation open to manipulation by ruling politicians; and regulation that is independent of both the newspaper industry and the political class.

The royal-charter solution to press regulation might have been workable, but the calibre of the political class today is such that it is best not to add in any way to the temptations it faces. Ruling parties want to keep power and, in pursuit of their goal, have shown themselves willing to fiddle all manner of public information, including the crime statistics, school exam results, and NHS death rates. Without a free press, we would never have found out. Under the proposed regime, any excuse to suppress valid press criticism will be seized on.

But it’s not just a matter of pragmatically avoiding the abuse of political power. A fundamental principle is at stake. From time to time there are defining moments in the continuous struggle to live up to the ideal of liberty. A free society worthy of the name will reserve important public obligations for civil society and not willingly surrender them to the political sphere. A free people that is quick to allow the political class to monopolise all public concerns will not keep its freedom for long. The space in which we devote our private time and energy to the common good has been called ‘public liberty’. Freedom of the press, which is the organised expression of freedom of speech, is one such common good. The press will be free to comment on politics without fear or favour, and its own cultural habits will be no less open to public supervision.