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The Role of Media in Improving Democratic Governance
freely. In addition, most of the attacks on or murders of journalists go
unpunished, and in areas with high levels of violence related to drug
trafficking, it is criminal gangs that determine what is published.
9
Regionally, journalist censorship in 2010 reached one of its highest levels
in the past 30 years, according to the annual report of the Committee
to Protect Journalists.
10
“Violation of the right to freedom of speech
and press does not punish journalism, it punishes society as whole.
Without this right, which is innate to human beings, democracy is,
evidently, fiction,” surmised Alberto Bailey, president of the National
Tribunal on Journalism Ethics of Bolivia, during the Hemispheric
Forum on Freedom of Speech which took place in early 2011.
11
The Dark Side of the Force
On a continent where distrust reigns, it is no wonder that media is
losing its credibility among society – in some cases with just cause.
This loss of credibility furthers the erosion of governance.
In an analysis of public opinion research data obtained between 1995
and 2010, Latinobarometer concluded that only two out of 10 people
said they could trust others.
12
This level of distrust, perhaps encouraged
by the crisis of public insecurity of the last few years, is particularly
evident in relation to the trends seen in electoral participation since
2006. In that year, 44 percent of respondents said they would not vote
for a political party; by 2010 that number had reached 54 percent.
13
In addition to the disenchantment with and the low levels of credibility
in democratic institutions (only 45 percent of respondents throughout
the continent said they trust their governments, 23 percent expressed
trust in political parties, 32 percent in the judiciary and 34 percent in
their members of congress), there is a decline in the use of mass media
to become informed about politics.
14
The Latinobarometer survey
showed that in 2010 fewer people used television, radio and print
media to become informed of political issues, while family and friends
—that is to say those in whom trust is vested—marked a rising trend.
15
