Fighting corruption through freedom of the press
A press that is also financially independent is the best safeguard against bribery and corruption. However, in many countries, journalism’s advertising-funded investigative capacity is under threat. Op-ed by Stephan Russ-Mohl, director of the European Journalism Observatory at the University of Lugano.
A reason to be proud? In the "Corruption Perception Index", a ranking by Transparency International, Switzerland is one of the ten nations in the world least at risk of corruption, together with Denmark, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands and Norway as other European countries. Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore are also among the top ten.
In another global ranking that Reporters sans Frontières compiles annually on press freedom, Switzerland has recently been ranked in first place again, together with Finland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. Estonia is the only country from the former Eastern bloc to make it into the top ten; Austria and Ireland are also in the top group, and New Zealand is the only non-European nation to be included.
A closer analysis of the two rankings reveals that:
- Europe, North America and Oceania have strong positions when it comes to curbing corruption and freedom of the press. Singapore is apparently the only country in the world that successfully combats corruption without freedom of the press.
- Within Europe, there is a dramatic north-south divide and still a strong west-east divide. Switzerland's three major neighbors, Germany, France and Italy, perform correspondingly differently: in the anti-corruption ranking, Germany is ranked 15th and France 25th. Italy, on the other hand, falls far behind, ranking 67th behind Rwanda and just ahead of Georgia. In terms of press freedom, Germany is ranked 17th, France 44th and Italy 49th.
- Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Myanmar and Somalia, as well as Afghanistan and Iraq, two countries that have been ravaged by war for years, bring up the rear in terms of corruption. Syria, Myanmar, Iran, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea grant the least freedom of the press.
According to the two rankings, a high degree of press freedom correlates impressively with a low susceptibility to corruption. This leads to the conclusion that freedom of the press helps to curb corruption in the long term. However, it is important to be very careful when drawing conclusions from correlation to causality: If the number of births decreases drastically and the number of storks also decreases, this does not necessarily mean that the storks are bringing the children into the world.
Susceptibility to corruption is probably first and foremost a question of ethos and therefore of socialization and socio-culture. But those economists who believe that bribery tends to spread where it "pays" are probably not entirely wrong either. Whether it is worthwhile depends not least on how likely it is to be caught when engaging in corruption and what sanctions then follow.
If the powerful know that an independent press could catch them out and scandalize them, this is probably still the best prevention against bribery and corruption. Of course, in order to have this effect, not only the freedom of the press guaranteed by the rule of law is required, but also journalism that is financially independent and sufficiently equipped with research capacity. For decades, the latter was "cross-subsidized" by the advertising industry. Because it is now cheaper and more target group-oriented to advertise on social networks and with the help of search engines, this advertising-financed research capacity of journalism in the western democracies of Europe and North America is currently disappearing at breathtaking speed. This means that freedom of the press is only worth half as much as before. Unfortunately, Switzerland's laurels of victory are already wilting before we have really realized that we deserve them.
In another global ranking that Reporters sans Frontières compiles annually on press freedom, Switzerland has recently been ranked in first place again, together with Finland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. Estonia is the only country from the former Eastern bloc to make it into the top ten; Austria and Ireland are also in the top group, and New Zealand is the only non-European nation to be included.
A closer analysis of the two rankings reveals that:
- Europe, North America and Oceania have strong positions when it comes to curbing corruption and freedom of the press. Singapore is apparently the only country in the world that successfully combats corruption without freedom of the press.
- Within Europe, there is a dramatic north-south divide and still a strong west-east divide. Switzerland's three major neighbors, Germany, France and Italy, perform correspondingly differently: in the anti-corruption ranking, Germany is ranked 15th and France 25th. Italy, on the other hand, falls far behind, ranking 67th behind Rwanda and just ahead of Georgia. In terms of press freedom, Germany is ranked 17th, France 44th and Italy 49th.
- Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Myanmar and Somalia, as well as Afghanistan and Iraq, two countries that have been ravaged by war for years, bring up the rear in terms of corruption. Syria, Myanmar, Iran, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea grant the least freedom of the press.
According to the two rankings, a high degree of press freedom correlates impressively with a low susceptibility to corruption. This leads to the conclusion that freedom of the press helps to curb corruption in the long term. However, it is important to be very careful when drawing conclusions from correlation to causality: If the number of births decreases drastically and the number of storks also decreases, this does not necessarily mean that the storks are bringing the children into the world.
Susceptibility to corruption is probably first and foremost a question of ethos and therefore of socialization and socio-culture. But those economists who believe that bribery tends to spread where it "pays" are probably not entirely wrong either. Whether it is worthwhile depends not least on how likely it is to be caught when engaging in corruption and what sanctions then follow.
If the powerful know that an independent press could catch them out and scandalize them, this is probably still the best prevention against bribery and corruption. Of course, in order to have this effect, not only the freedom of the press guaranteed by the rule of law is required, but also journalism that is financially independent and sufficiently equipped with research capacity. For decades, the latter was "cross-subsidized" by the advertising industry. Because it is now cheaper and more target group-oriented to advertise on social networks and with the help of search engines, this advertising-financed research capacity of journalism in the western democracies of Europe and North America is currently disappearing at breathtaking speed. This means that freedom of the press is only worth half as much as before. Unfortunately, Switzerland's laurels of victory are already wilting before we have really realized that we deserve them.
