36
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the
channel
magazine who was investigating EU
corruption. These are only two
examples, of course we are looking into
Western European problems as well. We
don’t differentiate between West and
East, but we have to differentiate with
respect to the fact that the problems
are different. For example, when a
journalist is sentenced to prison by a
local court in Italy because of libel –
in a case where the wife of a mayor was
accused of sex parties - , we think this
sends a negative signal to the whole
OSCE region because if this ancient
punishment is used in Italy, that
example can be used someplace else in
a crackdown on the whole freedom of
journalism. But we have of course to
differentiate whether it is applied in a
truly pluralistic country where the
courts are reliably independent, or in a
country where that is not the case.
You have now been appointed for a
period of three years. Do you have a
kind of “business plan” as to what you
would like to achieve in that time?
I would like to make progress with
the d i l emma of t he I nt e r ne t ,
especially as incitement to terrorism
and new waves of hate speech like
to spread on the Internet. With
regard to libel, in more and more
countries, we would like to see laws
passed that make it a civil issue. And
next year I would like to launch a
new strategic issue which is rights,
generally speaking of society, to get
access to what I call ‘data of public
interest’ – a very modern kind of
empowe rment wh i ch of cou r s e
journalists can make use of in the
name of society. But it is a citizen’s
right actually, not a specifically
j ourna l i s t ic r ight . These r ight s
should be enforceable and relevant
laws should be passed that make
them enforceable. I hope that at
least by the end of my term this new
c ampa ign w i l l ha v e gene ra t ed
discussion about the issue in some
of the countries where it does not
exist.
What is currentlyyourmost pressing task?
It is always a struggle splitting my time
between the case by case issues and the
strategic issues. Of course problems and
dangers regarding journalists and
journalism arise every day and we have
to handle them. At the same time we
would like to make progress in our
campaigns on the strategic issues.
Your office has an international staff
of about ten, including five advisers.
How do you decide which projects to
pursue – do you set the priorities in
your department?
We have placed the focus on these three
issues: we are preparing the access to data
campaign, but we are engaging in the
Internet and in the libel issue as main
campaigns. In addition to that, we are
dealing with country reports and with
simply organising defence for journalists
who are in danger and make interventions
and statements in those cases. So much
of our agenda is decided by life itself,
and only the rest is our own decision.
How does the information on the
situation of the media usually come
to you – do individuals alert you –
how does it work?
Most of our information comes from
seasoned, very experienced ground
NGOs like journalist associations,
international bodies like the Committee
for the Protection of Journalism,
International Press Institute,
International Association of
Journalists, and such like. Of course
reports by news agencies are very
important for us, and we are also
teamed up with research institutions on
media freedom, OSCE wide. So the short
answer is it is the societal part that
delivers the information mostly, but we
also have this unique possibility of
looking into government reports
because we are essentially a diplomatic
institution. So we have some access to
official country reports by the countries
themselves or by other countries.
AIB INTERVIEW
Looking to the future, from your
perspective as the Free Media
Representative, are you hopeful for
the development of media freedom?
Well, it’s a perpetual fight. Censorship
issues crop up every day in every
country, and in that respect it is a never
ending fight. But I am basically
optimistic. I believe that despite
discouraging acts the world is getting
better in this respect. My measurement
is the number of minds who are aware
of the problem, you know.
Finally, you have only been in office
for two months and it’s perhaps too
early to judge, but which are the
aspects of the work that you find most
interesting or that you enjoy most?
The specifics actually. I love to look
into the details and go beyond the
political fight and look at the substance
of the issue. That’s what I enjoy doing
most because, you know, the issue is
unavoidably food for political fight
inside every country. Some players in
politics are more talented than others
and are able to make a bigger noise,
and that is not necessarily the
substance of the issue.
Miklós Haraszti, thank you very much.
About the OSCE
The Organization for Security and Co-
operation in Europe (OSCE) is the largest
regional security organization in the world
with 55 participating States from Europe,
Central Asia and North America. It is active
in early warning, conflict prevention, crisis
management and post-conflict
rehabilitation.
The OSCE deals with a wide range of
security-related issues including arms
control, preventive diplomacy, confidence-
and security-building measures, human
rights, democratization, election monitoring
and economic and environmental security.
All OSCE participating States have equal
status, and decisions are based on
consensus.
The OSCE headquarters are in Vienna,
Austria. The Organization also has offices
and institutions located in Copenhagen,
Geneva, The Hague, Prague and Warsaw, and
employs about 3,000 staff in 18 missions
and field activities in South-eastern Europe,
the Caucasus, Eastern Europe and Central
Asia. They work ‘on the ground’ to facilitate
political processes, prevent or settle
conflicts, and promote civil society and the
rule of law.
