Is the Dutch financial support for the free press in Iran a treat for local journalist? On May 25th the Dutch daily NRC opened with the headline that the program of the Dutch government to support the freedom of the press in Iran gives the Iranian government an excuse to arrest local journalist. Worldwide the freedom of the press is under pressure, why? Why is Freedom of the Press so important?

Freevoice, Freedom House and the Radio Netherlands Worldwide organized the Day of the Freedom of the Press in the Netherlands. There where journalist and editors from many Dutch media organizations present. The main topics of the day where freedom of the press worldwide in 2007, source protection and the phenomenon that is becoming more common; journalists are held hostage by Dutch justice when they protect their source. The discussion surrounding the deterioration in freedom of the press was held in a worldwide context and a national context. The self censorship within the Dutch media organizations was up for debate.

Hans van der Ploeg representative of Freedom House opened with harsh numbers on Freedom of the Press in 2006. A clear deterioration in the freedom of the press could be seen in Russia, different countries in Asia and for the first time Latin America. The Russian minister from the EU taskforce Media and Terrorism stated: “Journalist have to be protected against attacks by limiting their freedom.”

In 2006 the number of journalist and support crew killed increased to a 180. Almost half of them got killed in Iraq; beaten to death, beheaded, killed by a bullet from an unknown rifleman or by a boom explosion. Murder is just one way to silence journalist, judicial action is another. On the Day of Freedom of the Press the organizations placed attention on U Win Tin; this 77 year old Burmese journalist has been in prison for eighteen years, his writing was not tolerated by the Regime in Burma.

The number of journalist killed in 2006 is monstrous; still we can’t loose sight of the fact that freedom of the press is not only threatened by brutal force. How free is a country when there is a amount of self censorship within the media? After a request from the Bond of Journalism (NVJ) Stella Braam en Astrid Unen researched self-censorship within the Dutch media. Half of the editors in chief that where questioned acknowledged that they cave under political pressure.

Freedom of the press is fundamental for a democratic society. The function of free press is to keep a critical eye on those in power and organizations, give people a voice and give reliable and nuanced information. The means in which freedom of the press is jeopardized differs from country to country, but eventually there is one common goal: to withhold information from the public or provide them with false information.