Correlations between Press Freedom and Development Investigated by Young Researchers
22-06-2006 (Paris)
In a seminar that took place on 12 June 2006, an international team of postgraduate students from the Paris-based Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques («Science-Po») presented to their peers, the preliminary results of research carried out to assess the linkages among press freedom and various indicators related to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
With support from UNESCO’s Communication and Information Sector, and supervised by the Sciences-Po’s Centre for Peace and Human Security, the research-team is composed of five master students (Marina Guseva, Mounira Nakaa, Kirsi Pekkala, Bachir Souberou and Sami Stouli), under the coordination of a PhD candidate, Anne-Sophie Novel.
From the econometric cross analysis between the Freedom House’s mapping of Press Freedom and a set of development indicators like governance, economic poverty and deprivation, health, education, security, violence and conflicts (developed by World Bank, UNDP, UNESCO and other international sources), it emerged that there is a positive correlation between press freedom and good-governance, as well as with indicators of human development and security.
In particular, according to the research, it appears that good governance and press freedom go hand in hand: political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law and corruption are all positively and strongly correlated with a high level of press freedom. This is an additional demonstration of the importance of the watchdog and civic forum functions of the press, both of which are important for the economic development.
Secondly, economic development and the fight against poverty (measured by income per capita, Gini index or poverty headcount ratio) are, as a rule, improved when the press is free. Some countries however, due to special circumstances, have high levels of development with low press freedom indicators. When looking at deprivation indicators (under-nourishment or access to clean water for instance), it appears that no country with good press freedom suffers from bad access to basic resources. But good access to these resources does not guarantee press freedom.
When looking at health conditions, press freedom appears to be crucial. In fact, press freedom seems very well correlated with public expenditures on health, life expectancy at birth and infant mortality rate. The results obtained with the prevalence of HIV, appear to be relevant, too, albeit differing within the percentage of prevalence.
Finally, according to the findings of the research-team, the relation between press freedom and education seems to be one of synergy: press freedom furthers and enhances education, and education has an even stronger effect on free media. All in all, literacy rates and school enrolment ratios show that the more people are educated, the more they can take action to benefit from and defend press freedom.
More details on this research are available by downloading the slides of the presentation at the Seminar. The full version of the study will be released in Autumn 2006.
From the econometric cross analysis between the Freedom House’s mapping of Press Freedom and a set of development indicators like governance, economic poverty and deprivation, health, education, security, violence and conflicts (developed by World Bank, UNDP, UNESCO and other international sources), it emerged that there is a positive correlation between press freedom and good-governance, as well as with indicators of human development and security.
In particular, according to the research, it appears that good governance and press freedom go hand in hand: political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law and corruption are all positively and strongly correlated with a high level of press freedom. This is an additional demonstration of the importance of the watchdog and civic forum functions of the press, both of which are important for the economic development.
Secondly, economic development and the fight against poverty (measured by income per capita, Gini index or poverty headcount ratio) are, as a rule, improved when the press is free. Some countries however, due to special circumstances, have high levels of development with low press freedom indicators. When looking at deprivation indicators (under-nourishment or access to clean water for instance), it appears that no country with good press freedom suffers from bad access to basic resources. But good access to these resources does not guarantee press freedom.
When looking at health conditions, press freedom appears to be crucial. In fact, press freedom seems very well correlated with public expenditures on health, life expectancy at birth and infant mortality rate. The results obtained with the prevalence of HIV, appear to be relevant, too, albeit differing within the percentage of prevalence.
Finally, according to the findings of the research-team, the relation between press freedom and education seems to be one of synergy: press freedom furthers and enhances education, and education has an even stronger effect on free media. All in all, literacy rates and school enrolment ratios show that the more people are educated, the more they can take action to benefit from and defend press freedom.
More details on this research are available by downloading the slides of the presentation at the Seminar. The full version of the study will be released in Autumn 2006.
Related themes/countries
Share this story:
Contact information
- UNESCO
Source