Freedom of press gives the powerless a public voice
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Some argue an abrupt opening of the Chinese media could lead to instability like that which led to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Those worries aren't unfounded. The shock of bringing transparency to a country that had been operating behind closed doors for decades revealed things that quickly stripped public trust.
However, the Soviet Union was bankrupt and hope among the people had been diminishing for decades. The sudden opening of the media aggravated these problems and simply hastened a collapse that was already inevitable.
China's economy on the other hand is booming and a recent PEW agency survey found 87 percent of Chinese are satisfied with their country's direction. Just as Japan, South Korea, China's Hong Kong and Taiwan have prospered while opening their media, Chinese mainland could too.
The transition would surely be bumpy, as it was in those places, but in the end the country would be stronger.
For all the sensationalism and biases inherent in those free media, they achieve three things that overshadow all else: They give voice to the little guy, keep the big guy honest and allow the public to form opinions based on reality.
Chinese officials are taught to "serve the people." But how can they be forced to do so unless the people have an effective medium for exposing leaders who've failed to serve them?
China often says it's a country "under the rule of law." So what better way to ensure this than allowing the media to expose all those who abuse or ignore the law?
Chinese schools teach students to "seek truth from facts." So isn't it necessary to let the media give people all the facts they find without fear of interference or reprisal?
Defamation and public security restrictions on the press should remain in place to protect from false or legitimately dangerous information. But those restrictions should be compelling and very narrowly defined. They must allow for the truth and prevent the use of "national security" as a pretext for suppressing embarrassing news.
On Freedom House's Freedom of the Press rankings this year, China tied with Laos and Tunisia for 184th place out of 196 countries and regions.
With incomes that have been rising steadily for decades and a generally content populace, China should now feel confident enough to allow that ranking to climb as fast as its economy has. Then society's most vulnerable people can have confidence their leaders truly are serving them.
The author is a master's candidate of Global Business Journalism at Tsinghua University. ericfish85@gmail.com
