IRELAND
The Irish News
Tom Collins
27 November, 2015
FREEDOM of the press is one of the essential attributes of a civilised society, or so we say, yet it is always open season on journalists.
Governments distrust the press, and journalists are often the targets of oppressive regimes. I have touched before on the risks faced by reporters, photographers and cameramen and women around the world. But it is not just conflict zones where they are at threat.
An alarming number of journalists are disappeared by repressive regimes; and in our own more benign democratic environment the rich and powerful flex their muscles (or get the courts to flex muscles for them) to minimise public scrutiny.
I doubt there is a single journalist who has not been the victim of intimidation and threats. Many have risked their personal safety to bring us the news.
It is unsurprising perhaps to see tin pot Latin American dictators, jumped up Russian oligarchs, and repressive regimes such as those in North Korea, China and the Middle East turn on the media.
This week, the Holy See joined the list of countries incapable of differentiating between the importance of a free press and its own narrow self-interest.
The Church has form. Silencing dissidents has been stock in trade of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since its foundations as the Inquisition. (Don’t mention Monty Python).
Denunciation by the Church was a sign you had something worthwhile to say. From Galileo to the theologian Hans Kung independent thinkers have been viewed with suspicion.
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