A free press speaks for those who cannot speak for themselves. Journalists become the eyes, ears and voice of victims of corruption. We rely on them to seek accountability, stop perpetrators from acting with impunity and to promote the transparency that empowers citizens to make informed decisions.

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”

Article 19
Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrines an individual’s right to freedom of expression. In many places around the world this fundamental human right is gagged through questionable legislation, censorship, harassment, threats and even murder. The Committee to Protect Journalists estimates that from 734 journalists killed in direct reprisal for their work since 1992; 20.3 per cent were reporting on corruption.

Moreover, incidents of physical violence against journalists, even murder, are in some countries rarely investigated or prosecuted. Journalists who seek to expose economic and political corruption do so at great personal risk. High stake political and business interests combined with corrupt judges and police, mean that violence against journalists is often carried out with impunity.

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Maria Salazar, Senior Americas Research Associate, Committee to Protect Journalists	David Leigh, Investigations Editor, Guardian
Corruption and investigative journalism María Salazar Senior Americas Research Associate Committee to Protect Journalists

The repressive laws and regulations existing in some countries are state sanctioned hazards that jeopardise not only the independence of journalists, but often their freedom – making for a climate of intimidation. Ambiguous laws can be manipulated to result in criminal libel and defamation suits. Other political tactics to deter critical journalism include freezing bank accounts and revoking licences.

The advent of the internet has ushered in a new phenomenon – citizen journalists. But in countries where the governments are intent on controlling the media, the internet does not afford any more freedom than its traditional counterpart. In these countries governments have been quick to crack down on any blogs, chatrooms and websites that they deem subversive, censoring content and imprisoning contributors.

As the media is a prism through which the public can be made aware of the actions and news that can affect their lives, it is crucial that a wide diversity of media is present in society so that the public is able to make an informed decision.

Effective access to information laws maintain a balance between citizens and state; when citizens are denied their right to know, corrupt officials can act with impunity. Article 13 of the UN Convention against Corruption requires that each State Party, at present 136, takes appropriate measures to ensure that the public has effective access to information. The Transparency International (TI) movement pushes governments around the world to adopt such laws where they are lacking and rigorously enforce them where they are in place.

TI’s Integrity Awards, established in 2000, recognise the efforts of individuals and organisations who work to investigate and unmask corruption, often at great personal risk. TI’s 2008 Integrity Awards paid tribute to two remarkable investigative journalists, David Leigh of the Guardian and Roman Shleynov of Novaya Gazeta, whose untiring determination to expose corrupt dealings in the face of formidable odds serve as inspiration to the anti-corruption movement.

Eight journalists have received an Integrity Award, since the programme began in 2000, four of them posthumously; they were not free to expose corruption. Among others, TI’s first Integrity Award in 2000 went to Sri Lankan newspaper editor Lasantha Wickramatunga in recognition of his commitment to unearth corruption and the difficult and dangerous circumstances he faced. Tragically Wickramatunga was brutally murdered by unidentified gunmen on his way to work in January 2008. Police have yet to charge anyone with Wickramatunga's killing.

The annual TI and Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (Press and Society Institute) Journalism Award, worth US $25,000, recognises an outstanding investigative report on corruption in the Latin American or Caribbean media. Two series of investigative articles exposing illicit enrichment and drug trafficking in Paraguay and Peru are the most recent award winners.