Tuesday, May 3, 2016

World Press Freedom Day: A UN Initiative Meant to Press for the UN Agenda?

I heartily agree with the assertion that a free press is an essential element of a free society.  I have serious reservations, however, when the UN enters the fray and piggybacks its own Utopian agenda--one which has nothing to do with freedom--on such an occasion. Here, for instance, is what the UN considers to be a crucial aspect of this year's WPFD:
Furthermore, the year 2016 is also the first year of the 15 year life-cycle of the ambitious new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015 Press freedom and the right to information have a direct relevance to achieving these goals, and can also be seen as implicit goals themselves. The SDGs will set the agenda for many policy decisions in coming years, impact on resource mobilization and flows, and highlight the common interest in humanity in a durable process of improving the lives of every person.
That sounds an awful lot like Utopian Socialism to me--and the UN viewing freedom of the press as the "freedom" (its opposite, really) to carry water for one of the UN's 15 Year Plans (which are as likely to be as successful as any of Stalin's 5 Year Plans).

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