According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent non-profit organisation dedicated to protecting press freedom, 58 reporters around the world are known to have been assassinated in 2005 because of their investigative work; 14 of these murders were related to investigations of corruption. Two journalists have already met the same fate in 2006. For full information, click here:www.cpj.org/killed/killed06.html.

Journalists attempting to expose corruption lay their lives on the line. They may be threatened, harassed, kidnapped, jailed, terrorised, injured or murdered. This is especially the case when their reporting comes into conflict with powerful political or business interests. Reporters Without Borders, another organisation that monitors violence against journalists, has reported an additional four journalists attacked and/or arrested in response to their coverage of corruption in 2006. See: www.rsf.org.

Many factors beyond physical violence inhibit journalists attempting to expose corruption: political resistance and the absence of laws guaranteeing access to information, a repressive legal framework, the lack of independent judiciary, and a concentration of media ownership in the hands of a few. Journalist training and sufficient compensation must also be addressed if journalists are to have the necessary professional skills to report on corruption.

Journalists often play a direct role in fighting corruption, by ‘breaking’ a corruption scandal or producing reports that bring unethical behaviour to public attention. News reports can be an important motivation for official bodies charged with investigating or prosecuting corrupt acts; they can prompt the resignation of public officials. In Peru, the media played a central role in exposing the corruption that led to the ouster of President Alberto Fujimori; in the Philippines, news reports on the unexplained wealth of President Joseph Estrada were a key factor in his eventual downfall.

When journalists seek to expose entrenched political and economic interests, especially when those interests are shrouded in secrecy, they may face considerable physical risk. Political retaliation can range from simple disregard for transparency obligations or discrimination against particular journalists and news outlets, to a government’s outright abuse of its legal and regulatory powers in an attempt to intimidate or silence the media.

Even without overt state censorship, self-censorship by journalists remains a problem. Where the state is not able to guarantee the safety of journalists, or is complicit in corruption, journalists may decide not to criticise for fear of violent retribution. The situation of self-censorship is critical in Latin America, particularly in Colombia, and in Mexico along the US border, as well as in Brazil and Venezuela. Investigative reporting is generally more dangerous in rural than in urban settings. The extent of self-censorship in Latin America, where lawlessness, drug trafficking, smuggling and organised crime continue to spread, is worrisome, reports Carlos Lauria of the Committee to Protect Journalists. “There is no freedom of expression without guarantees to exercise journalism,” says Heriberto Cantu, Editorial Director of El Manana. www.cpj.org/attacks05/americas05/americas05.html

Just as there can be no freedom of expression without a free press, true freedom cannot exist when access to information is denied. Unfettered access helps to maintain balance between the state and the people by enabling journalists and citizens alike to monitor government activities. Access to information helps journalists uncover corruption and mismanagement, helps make citizens aware of their rights, facilitates access to services and enables them to hold their government and public bodies accountable.

The right to know is a basic human right, enshrined in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It is also a precondition to democratic government and to good governance, and a means of preventing corruption. Although Article 19 states that "everyone should have the ... freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers ..., through any media ... of his choice", in reality many national legal frameworks continue to restrict the fundamental rights to know and to publish. An enabling legal framework, marked by robust freedom of expression and access to information laws, is essential to the proper functioning of the media. Without them, considerable obstacles are placed in the path of journalists attempting to investigate corruption.

The struggles and frustrations of journalists and others blocked in their investigations as a result of repressive legislation are well reported. But what of good news stories of where the opposite is true; where access to information legislation did help to uncover instances of corruption?

A new freedom of expression law came into force in the United Kingdom on 1 January 2005, allowing anyone, with few exceptions, to request and receive information from any public body in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The BBC’s website, www.bbc.co.uk/foinews, brings together news reports facilitated by this law, among them an account of how foreign women travel to the UK to give birth in the UK’s health care system then leave the country without paying.

A new right to information act in India allowed concerned citizen Dr Rakesh Ranjan access to the official documents necessary to investigate rumours of corruption in an International Labour Organisation funded education project for child labourers. Under the new law, Dr Ranjan received information about the cost of supplies for education kits, and discovered that the prices were highly inflated, and that many kits were empty or of lower quality. Dr Rakesh’s official complaint is still awaiting response from the Madhya Pradesh State Government.

More than 60 countries have signed access to information laws. Transparency International lobbies for freedom of expression laws in countries that lack them, and for rigourous enforcement in countries where they do exist. For more information, click on www.transparency.org/global_priorities/access_information.

A number of TI programmes support investigative journalists, including awards, journalism training, and activities promoting access to information.

At the international level, the Transparency International Integrity Awards, established in 2000, recognise the courage and determination of individuals and organisations fighting corruption around the world. Twenty seven activists from around the world have received the award;seven of them were journalists. That five of those seven were awarded posthumously is testimony to their courage in the face of grave personal danger.

♦ Manik Chandra Saha was killed in a bomb attack on 15 January 2004 after reporting on crime and political corruption in Bangladesh.

♦ In 2003, Abdelhaï Beliardouh of Algeria was kidnapped and tortured by an armed gang for his reports of corruption in cross-border trade.

♦ Carlos Alberto Cardoso was assassinated on 22 November 2000 as he investigated the largest banking fraud in Mozambique’s history.

♦ Georgiy Gongadze of Ukraine was found mutilated, burnt and beheaded in November 2000 after repeatedly criticising the Ukrainian government and then-President Leonid Kuchma.

♦ Norbert Zongo of Burkina Faso was assassinated in 1998 while investigating allegations linking the president’s brother to a murder.

Each of these dedicated journalists gave his life for his commitment to the truth. More on their courageous acts and tragic endings can be found at: www1.transparency.org/integrityawards/winners/winners.html

The Transparency International Latin America and the Caribbean and Instituto Prensa y Sociedad Journalism Award recognises an outstanding investigative report on corruption in the Latin American or Caribbean media, offering a first prize of US $25,000 and two US $5,000 second prizes, made possible through a contribution from the Open Society Institute.

National awards include TI Thailand’s Best Investigative Journalism Award and TI Korea’s Transparency Awards, where one of last year’s winners, MBC-TV reporter Lee Sang-ho, was honoured for his breakthrough report on the National Intelligence Service’s illegal 1997 wiretapping of politicians, businessmen and journalists. The report provoked an investigation by the state prosecutor.

Following an October 2005 conference with TI national chapters, journalists from Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo created a regional network called “African Network of Journalists for Integrity and Transparency” (RAJAIT). RAJAIT involves journalists in the fight against corruption and is intended to increase support for and solidarity between journalists. The conference was organised with the support of Development Cooperation Ireland.

Media training for investigative journalists has been undertaken in many countries. TI Vanuatu is working with a media expert from VSO Philippines. Poder Ciudadano, TI’s national chapter in Argentina, has held virtual workshops on social journalism. TI Lebanon recently hosted two workshops to improve access to information and promote the development of independent, non-state-financed media. In 2004, workshops in Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay and Venezuela trained journalists to use access to information laws as tools to investigate corruption.

A number of TI chapters in new European Union member states held seminars and training for journalists on the issue of EU structural funds, within the framework of the TI Transparency through Awareness (TTA) Project. This is a complex and unwieldy subject area, with varying levels of access to information. Proficient media reporting is extremely important: it fosters transparency and accountability in the funds’ management. In a recent public campaign, TI Lithuania urged greater transparency on the use of EU funds. The campaign, “They Do Not Want You to Know”, began in early April and was kicked off by symbolically covering up public transport stops.

TI chapters in Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Vanuatu are promoting access to information legislation. The AMAN coalition in Palestine has worked on the first draft access to information law in the Arab world, and TI’s chapter in Peru, Proética, advises citizens on their rights to information.

Chapters also produce publications to encourage access to information and a free press. These include a manual developed by Poder Ciudadano on how to monitor the media during elections, a book on the right to information in Costa Rica, a citizen’s manual on access to public information in Guatemala, and a Green Book on access to information by TI Lebanon.

Other Transparency International publications on the role of the media in countering corruption and on access to information include the Global Corruption Report 2003 on access to information and the Anti-Corruption Handbook’s section on the media. The Handbook contains recommendations for strengthening the media’s role in investigating and exposing corruption. For more information, click here: www.transparency.org/policy_research/ach/non_governmental/media_discussion