Press Freedom

(asked on 14th May 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 7 May (HL3380), and following reports of threats to journalists in Northern Ireland, when they expect to (1) set up the National Committee for the Safety of Journalists, and (2) publish their National Action Plan for the Safety of Journalists.


Answered by
Baroness Barran Portrait
Baroness Barran
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This question was answered on 1st June 2020

Journalists play a vital role in our society and must be free at all times to do their jobs without fear of violence. The Minister for Media and Data made this clear recently when he signed the public statement issued by the National Union of Journalists, calling for the freedom of the press to be respected and protected. As he said, “Journalism is a bedrock of democracy and those who are keeping our communities informed and holding the powerful to account must not be intimidated or threatened as they carry out their work. We stand with journalists and will do all we can to support them in doing their jobs without fear or favour."

Plans for the National Committee and the National Action Plan for the Safety of Journalists are currently being developed, but have been necessarily delayed as the government turns its attention to supporting newspapers through the current Covid-19 crisis. However, the committee and the action plan remain priorities for us and we hope to be able to make an announcement soon.

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