Hello, my name's Mrs. Tomassi and I'm gonna be working with you on your citizenship lesson today.

Hopefully you've got everything you need, you're all settled, you're all good to go and then we'll get started.

The title of today's lesson is: Is the Free Press Free Everywhere? And this is part of the unit on How do democratic systems work around the world? Hopefully by the end of the lesson today, you'll be able to explain what press freedom is and how it varies around the world.

So we've got three keywords in the lesson.

If you ever need to, you're gonna see them in bold throughout.

If you're like, hmm, not too sure what that is, you can refer back to it here.

So we'll go through them now.

You've got free press: that's the right of the media to report news and express opinions without government censorship or interference.

Then you've got censorship, which is the control of information or ideas within a society.

And finally, you've got democracy.

And democracy is a system of government in which citizens vote in regular, fair elections for representatives who then make laws and decisions on their behalf.

We've got two learning cycles today.

We'll make a start on the first, which is How is censorship used in some countries? So before we start on that, what actually is a free press? Yes, we have the definition in the key terms, but what is it? Can you expand on that at all? So it's that right to interference and expressing the opinions without the government sensitive or interference.

Now it has many benefits.

Can you think what these benefits might be? Why is it a good thing to be able to report news without the fear from the government interfering? It allows for freedom of expression and that links to human rights as well.

It supports the democracy because it's allowing different voices and to hear different opinions and diversity, and it's holding powers to account.

So it's ensuring that those powers are held accountable through what the media report and it keeps citizens informed.

Lucas says here, "I read an article about how a local official was misusing funds and after it came out there was an official investigation." And this is the thing with a free press, it allows for these things to be investigated and issues to be reported.

So, free press, or sometimes you might hear it as press freedom as well, is vital to a healthy democracy.

It does come with responsibilities.

What might you think you'd need to be responsible for? So sometimes it can be controlled, and this is to ensure that there's a protection of the public, integrity from journalists to make sure what is being published is truthful, fairness for anyone being reported on, to ensure, you know, it's not invading their privacy, their situations, and the information is correct.

Yes, press freedom must be protected and it's important, but it also needs to ensure that the information is true and that journalists are reporting with integrity accurately and the facts can be verified.

So fairness allows the people the chance to respond to what is being reported on.

In a democracy, sometimes the media actually can be censored and this means that information or ideas are controlled.

So can you think of a country that might have a free press, why would they be censoring information? What has that got to do with it? The reason censorship might occur might look different to how you think about when you think about censorship.

So it's things like age restrictions on games and films. If you've noticed, you know, some games, films might be an 18 plus.

That is actually a form of censorship, but why is it there? It's there to protect young people to ensure they're not exposed to content that they shouldn't be before their age.

Then it blocks harmful content.

So again, a similar idea there.

State secrets, there might be a need to protect those from others.

Military information, same idea, to prevent misinformation to ensure there's not, you know, so if something's got out that actually is not factually correct, it's trying to prevent that misinformation getting around.

And another one is you might notice sometimes in trials, they might not give away all the details and that's because you are innocent until proven guilty.

So everyone has a right to a fair trial and if a load of information was given and then an opinion could be formed before the case has actually gone to trial and the verdict has come out.

True or false? Censorship never occurs in democratic countries.

That's false.

Why? Like we were saying, it does occur but maybe it's for a specific reason such as protecting people.

So in democracies, it must follow rules and laws to balance it with the right of freedom of expression.

So there has to be a good reason and a good balance there as well.

I'll give you an example.

So in Norway the media can be censored to promote equality and social stability due to their laws against racist speech and hate propaganda.

So if something in the media was going to break those laws, then it could be censored and said, actually no, that's not gonna go through because they want to promote equality and social stability.

In Germany, the Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors, censors TV and streaming content that may harm children under the age of 16.

So actually you might know, in the UK, we have something similar called the watershed.

And in Germany they do this, which means any harmful content to children can't be aired until after 10:00 PM.

So it's that idea that then, hopefully the children wouldn't be watching TV at that time, they'd be in bed asleep, so therefore they wouldn't be viewing that kind of content.

In the US, the media can be censored from reporting details to protect national security.

So I'll give you an example.

The US government can issue gag orders to prevent leaks of classified information.

So that would prevent people from being able to give that information up for the protection of others.

And then in New Zealand, courts can impose suppression orders that stop the media publishing names or evidence to protect a defendant's right to a fair trial.

That's like what we were talking about earlier.

You know, if information got out beforehand, then it could sway how the trial went.

So it ensures if there isn't information there that the defendant has a right to a fair trial.

Can you list three examples of how censorship might occur in a democratic country? Have a little think and see what you can come up with.

Did you manage to get any of these three? You could have had things like age restrictions on games and films or blocking harmful content, preventing access to state secrets or military information, blocking misinformation, or preventing the media from publishing names or evidence that could prevent access to a fair trial.

Hopefully you managed to get something for that.

So this map shows the level of press freedom across the world in 2024, according to the World Press Freedom Index.

What do you think the colours might show here? And again, have a think if you have an idea of what it's like in the UK, that might help you with this.

So you've got here the blue is a good situation, all the way down to red, which is a very serious situation.

And what that refers to is the amount of press freedom in that country.

So the bluer ones have the good situation, whereas the red is going down to very serious.

We're gonna break down and have a look at these properly in the lesson.

So in democracies, the press is usually free, it can sometimes be censored to protect people.

There's rules and limits.

Now the difference is that in non-democratic countries, the press is often more restricted and it might not have clear rules, it could occur for different reasons.

So things like: stopping criticism of the government or leaders, hiding the truth about events, controlling what people see and think, and punishing journalists or citizens who speak out.

So this is very different to what we saw earlier where it's about the protection of others.

To give you an example, in China, some information is censored through the Golden Shield Project, often referred to as the Great Firewall of China.

And that blocks access to some internet and social media sites, so such as Google and Facebook.

And it limits access to foreign information sources and can impact freedom of speech.

So this censorship, you might argue, could be for a different reason, compared to the idea of maybe protecting others.

In Russia, some information is censored through restrictions on independent news outlets.

So some of those independent news outlets have been taken over by the state or they've been forced to shut down and it limits the diversity of available news sources that they have there.

Can you tick whether each example of censorship is mainly used to protect citizens or control citizens? You've got here, a social media platform removes videos encouraging dangerous challenges that could harm young people, a website is shut down for criticising a country's leader, journalists are jailed for reporting on government corruption, a country puts age restrictions on violent video games, a country bans all foreign news during protests.

Tick which one is which.

So how did you get on? That first one is protect, the second one was control.

The third one about the journalist jailed is control again.

The age restrictions on violent video games is for protection.

And banning all foreign news during protests is for control.

So hopefully you're starting to see the difference now of how censorship can be used.

It's not always used for the same reasons.

So we are gonna move on to the first task now, which is to explain one-way censorship in a democratic country might be different from censorship in a non-democratic country.

You can include the words: rules, freedom and protect in your response.

Take some time, have a think about how you're gonna structure it and what you're gonna do.

Again, it's similar to like a four mark answer in the GCSE, that's the detail that you wanna go into.

When you've done it, unpause and we'll go through the feedback.

So how did you get on? Now, you could have said something like this: In a democratic country, censorship usually follows clear rules and is used to protect people, such as by removing harmful or false information.

However, ultimately, people in democratic countries still have the freedom to express their opinions.

In non-democratic countries, censorship often ignores rules and is used to control people and protect the government by stopping criticism and limiting freedom of speech, for example, by blocking access to websites and information.

Did you manage to get something like this? Again, like we said, it's the detail there that will be what will getting you the three to four marks in the exam.

So if you can, always make sure you've got your point with your example for each one.

If you need to, you might wanna have go back and have a little look at yours.

And if you can, see if you can add any bits to it.

If not, we will move on to the second learning cycle.

So how safe are journalists across the world? Here is our World Press Freedom Index again.

Now, it was originally created by Reporters Without Borders in 2002 and the reason it was created is to highlight and raise awareness about the state of press freedom across the world.

Part of this highlighted the threats and challenges that journalists face and the index serves as a tool for advocacy.

So when we say advocacy, do you know what that is? Can you think? You might have done this before in Citizenship, but it's this idea of speaking on behalf of, and in this case it's about protecting journalists and encouraging governments to respect and promote the rights of the press.

We saw this earlier and now we're actually gonna look at what each of these situations actually entails or what it means.

So if we start with a good situation.

For countries to be recognised as having a good situation, journalists must be safe, protected from violence, harassment and intimidation, have legal protection, strong freedom of speech laws, and have access to information and documents from the government and other organisations.

So an example there, Sweden has a good situation according to the World Press Freedom Index in 2024.

Because in 2023, new laws were introduced so that crimes against journalists were seen as aggravating circumstances.

What this meant is it upped the level of crime that those who targeted journalists were charged with.

So with that then comes increased sanctions and penalties for those who choose to threaten, harass, or attack journalists.

For countries to be recognised as having a good situation according to the world Press Freedom Index, what must journalists have? A: legal protection? B: access to information, C: safety and protection from violence.

Hopefully you realise it's actually all three.

It's really important and they have all of those to be able to be considered as a good situation.

Next, move on to satisfactory situation.

In these countries, journalists might face mild harassment or online abuse, pressure from powerful groups or companies, and delays in accessing information and documents from government and other organisations.

We've stepped down a little bit from the good situation and they might start to face some challenges.

Example, the USA has legal protections for the press freedom, but some journalists still face harassment, especially during protests or when reporting on politics.

Next, if we move on to noticeable problems. Here, journalists might face threats or legal risks for reporting critically, biassed or government influenced media and censorship or media restrictions.

So again, as it titles, we're starting to see noticeable problems. Example, in India some journalists might face pressure not to criticise the government.

They are concerns about press freedom, especially during elections or protests.

We move on to a difficult situation.

Here, journalists might face legal punishment for reporting the truth.

State owned media controlling the narrative and censorship or blocked websites.

Example, here in Russia, journalists face arrest, media outlets have been shut down and critical stories about the government are often bound.

So which type of situation indicates journalists are likely to experience delays in accessing information from the government? A: satisfactory situation, B: noticeable problems, or C: difficult situation? This one is satisfactory situation, so they should still be able to access the information.

It just might be delayed.

Now finally, we've got a very serious situation.

So here, journalists often face extreme punishment for criticism, no access to independent information and constant surveillance and censorship.

So these are the worst situations that journalists can be put under.

For example, in North Korea, all media is controlled by the state.

There is no free press and people can be in prison just for accessing foreign news, let alone those publishing it as well.

So according to Reporters Without Borders, in 2024, 550 journalists were detained around the globe and 54 journalists were killed on the job or in connection with their work.

And I suppose this puts into perspective when we are talking about those different types of situations, how some journalists really are at risk just for doing their job.

So Reporters Without Borders really believe in advocacy like we was talking earlier and they say it's crucial for raising awareness about the risks journalists face, and what they're for is global protection of their rights, because they think press freedom is very important.

Like we saw earlier, the benefits into why press freedom is good.

So one thing they wanna do is they're advocating for the creation of a Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for the Safety of Journalists.

So somebody whose role is to look at the safety of journalists in the United Nations.

And this is something that is still ongoing.

They do other work as well around advocacy for people to understand the risks that they are at.

And if you are interested, you could always have a look more at what they do.

So can you match the category to the type of situations journalists might face? Good situation, noticeable problems, very serious situation, and which one does it match to? So the other side, you've got: journalists are safe and protected by strong laws, journalists face extreme violence or imprisonment and media is controlled by the state, and journalists face harassment and limited access to information.

If you need to pause to read through them again, you can always unpause when you are ready.

So good situation is that top one there.

They're safe and protected by strong laws.

Noticeable problems, face harassment and limited access to information.

And a very serious situation, face extreme violence or imprisonment and media is controlled by the state.

That's gonna move us on to our final task.

Can you design an advocacy campaign to raise awareness about the importance of press freedom and the need for protecting journalists worldwide? You might want to include a catchy title, campaign message, campaign goals, and what action you want the audience to take.

So if you have a think and have a look like what we looked at, the Reporters Without Borders, how they advocate on behalf of the journalists.

Have a think about designing your own campaign and how you would raise awareness.

Now this might take some time, you might wanna chat to somebody first to get some ideas.

You might wanna spend some time designing it before you actually make it.

So if you pause it and then when you are ready, you can unpause and we can have a look through some feedback together.

How did you get on? Now this one is very much focused on the written element of it.

You might have done some really good designs, you might have made some placards, you might have done a poster, there could have been lots of different things that you could have done as well.

But if you're looking for what information could be included in it, that's what we're gonna have a look at now.

So here we've got a title: Journalists' Rights Matter: Protect Press Freedom.

A free press is a cornerstone of democracy.

Without a free press, we lose access to vital information and powerful institutions can operate without accountability.

Journalists around the world face threats, violence and imprisonment for exposing the truth.

We must act to protect journalists so that they can do their jobs safely and so that the public can remain informed.

Call to Action.

Sign our petition today to demand stronger protections for journalists and to hold governments accountable for violating press freedom.

Share this message on social media to spread the word about the importance of press freedom.

Stand with journalists, stand with truth.

So that there, hopefully you can work out there, that the action they're looking for is to sign a petition to help the campaign and that they want people to share the message on social media and spread the word in order to promote this cause.

Did you have something similar like that? You might have picked a different way of doing it.

There are so many different ways that you could have done this.

So I'm sure if you've got lovely, creative ideas as well, anything that would help to spread the message and to raise awareness in this case.

So well done for that task.

That's our final task and we're just gonna summarise now.

So free press varies across the world.

The World Press Freedom Index categorises different countries based on their levels of press freedom.

Censorship can occur in democratic countries with press freedom, but in must have rules and limitations in order to protect citizens.

Censorship can occur in non-democratic countries for other reasons, such as to control citizens and protect governments.

Journalist safety is a global issue and many face violence or harassment for doing their jobs.

Advocacy groups raise awareness of this and demand stronger protections to ensure journalists' rights are respected and upheld.

I suppose the important thing to take out of that is remembering that censorship does vary depending on where it is and what are the intentions for it.

So hopefully you've got something out of the lesson today.

Thank you for working with me and enjoy the rest of your day.