Like many politicians, I don’t always enjoy reading what the newspapers say about me.
But I believe that a free media is a fundamental requirement for a stable and healthy society.
By holding authority to account and allowing the free exchange of ideas, journalism acts as a powerful force for progress.
When everyone is able to share their ideas, a society benefits not just from the brains of the people who happen to be at the top, but from the originality and creativity of the entire population.
As the home of local and national media outlets with a global reputation, I want Britain to play its part in championing media freedom worldwide.
Too often, journalists have become targets just for doing their jobs. Last year, 99 journalists were killed across the world and another 348 locked up by governments.
The thin red line between open and closed societies is the ability of the press to report freely.
That’s why I have decided to join forces with the Canadian government to launch a global campaign to protect journalists and promote the benefits of a free media.
Our overriding aim is to shine a spotlight on abuses and raise the price for those who would murder, arrest or detain journalists.The highlight of the campaign will be an international conference on media freedom in July that will see delegates from across the world gather in London.
Far from being a cause of instability, professional journalism and a free media allow people the ability to voice their discontents without resorting to violence. Corruption, for example, is one of the biggest sources of anger in many countries.
Yet powerful people will be far less likely to abuse their positions if there is a real risk of media exposure.
This month I attended World Press Freedom Day in Ethiopia – a country that has recently made great strides towards a freer media.
I joined the United Nations, the African Union and others in highlighting the progress, as well as the abuses that have taken place in other countries.
In this the week of Journalism Matters, I would also like to pay tribute to the news media in the UK.
Journalism is more in demand than ever before as people seek out trusted content, with 48 million people in the UK viewing a local or national news brand every month.
Trusted local papers play an invaluable role in the communities they serve, holding power to account and providing a public service by covering local authority meetings and the courts.
- Jeremy Hunt is the Foreign Secretary
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here