"Strong democracy implies media freedom"

"Freedom of speech", "freedom of media" and "freedom of the expression" are like the Loch Ness monster. Everybody knows that they exist, but no one has ever been able to snap a clear pic of them, and so they continue to endure in our collective imagination and consciousness as an elastic, flexible metaphysical concept of indeterminable value, nebulous structure, soft focus and abstract relevance. Ostensibly, these concepts are more valued and cherished in the West than they are in the East, but anyone who has seen a CNN news coverage as of lately knows perfectly well that the fake news network is in no way, shape or form morally or technically superior to Pravda circa November 1952, Volkischer Beobachter circa 1938 or Informer circa 2018. In the immortal words of one Paul Simon: "All lies and jest; still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest".

The only true freedom of the press can be found in cemeteries. Just follow the graveyard signs to the tombstones of the murdered and lynched journalists.

"Freedom of speech", "freedom of media" and "freedom of the expression" are like the Loch Ness monster. Everybody knows that they exist, but no one has ever been able to snap a clear pic of them, and so they continue to endure in our collective imagination and consciousness as an elastic, flexible metaphysical concept of indeterminable value, nebulous structure, soft focus and abstract relevance. Ostensibly, these concepts are more valued and cherished in the West than they are in the East, but anyone who has seen a CNN news coverage as of lately knows perfectly well that the fake news network is in no way, shape or form morally or technically superior to Pravda circa November 1952, Volkischer Beobachter circa 1938 or Informer circa 2018. In the immortal words of one Paul Simon: "All lies and jest; still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest".

The only true freedom of the press can be found in cemeteries. Just follow the graveyard signs to the tombstones of the murdered and lynched journalists.