Abstract
As I draft this preface, the world is in turmoil. There are crises going on, with different characteristics, in all regions. These crises, each with its own contextual logic, are very much interconnected – what happens with one of them affects the dynamics of others.
And the challenges don’t stop there. The entire planet, regardless of the specificities of the regional, national or local problems, is facing two existential risks at a global scale: serious threats to democratic institutions and the environmental crisis.
There are no simple solutions to complex problems. Likewise, there are no isolated solutions to global problems. A transnational approach, with a robust multilateral and multistakeholder governance system, is a necessary pre-condition to move forward.
Journalism is a vital piece in this puzzle. Holding powerful actors accountable; bringing corruption, human rights violations, and environmental crimes to daylight; contributing to counter the massive waves of disinformation that are damaging our democracies and slowing down the response to the climate crisis; tackling hate speech and conspiracy theories, which are concrete obstacles to peacebuilding – these are among the tasks we expect that journalists and journalism should perform in this extremely difficult global landscape.
Allow me a parenthesis here. Interestingly enough, as we celebrate its 75th anniversary, we can see that the mothers and fathers of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights had a very clear picture of this transboundary nature of freedom of expression – and, of course, press freedom. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration defines freedom of expression by affirming it as a right without frontiers.
This powerful message anticipated a phenomenon that we have started witnessing with a stronger impetus in recent years: transnational journalism is playing a crucial role in bringing problems that can only be tackled with information derived from multiple countries and different regions to the centre of the international public sphere. Transnational investigations about corruption, human rights violations, environmental crimes, migration, global health problems and the impacts of disinformation on elections have been game changers in the way our societies have been witnessing and dealing with these issues.
Ironically, this creative, vibrant, collaborative and must-needed new way of doing journalism is taking place during a ‘perfect storm’ for the exercise of journalism everywhere. New regulatory frameworks aiming to curtail press freedom; physical, psychological, digital and legal harassment and violence against journalists; political leaders verbally abusing and attacking journalists; and the huge crisis of economic viability of the news media are some of the ingredients of this storm impacting all regions of the world. The boat of journalism must navigate this sea facing huge waves of disinformation, which also aim to discredit journalism as a key institution for our democracies to thrive.
Saving our democracies and saving our planet require the saving of journalism as this unique institution in the global checks-and-balances system. To do that, a series of comprehensive policies and actions are necessary.
A pre-condition, though, for enabling quality policymaking is to produce evidence and data to support these processes. It was therefore with great interest that I got to know about the Global Risk Journalism Hub. As journalists have understood that transnational cooperation among them is vital to face our current challenges, it is important to see that researchers are walking a similar path.
It was with pleasure that the UNESCO's Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists Section hosted a special event of the Hub in UNESCO's Headquarters in Paris. An event that, among other results, stimulated a debate about the papers published in this special edition. Their topics couldn’t be more relevant for the current multilateral debates regarding the current state and future of journalism.
I have no doubt that this special edition will inspire more researchers to join this central debate of our times and the products of this collective effort will be a key ingredient for the on-going policymaking efforts aiming to protect and reinvigorate journalism as a pivotal institution to address the global risks knocking at our doors.