It is a fundamental constitutional right to have the freedom of opinion and expression. This includes the right to hold, receive and impart opinions. The press shall, to this end, have the right to report and publish freely and the right to be accorded the fullest possible facilities for access to public information. Freedom of the press shall mean and include that freedom from restraint which is essential to enable proprietors, editors and journalists of Nation publications to advance the public interest by publishing facts and opinions without which any democratic society cannot develop, progress or make responsible judgment.
The basic principle to be upheld is that the freedom of the press is indivisible from and subject to the same rights and duties as that of the individual and rests on the public’s fundamental right to be informed and to freely receive and disseminate opinions.
FinancePre aims to report what matters in and around the world. Of course not everyone agrees about what is really important – it is a matter of editorial judgement.
Our audiences do not look at events in the same way. There is no one universal news agenda that applies to all. That is why we broadcast in many different styles and why a story given prominence may not even be mentioned by our journalists.
But no matter the audience, our journalism tries to lay out why a story is significant – or at least in what way a story is new.
Sometimes that will be obvious. When broadcasting, we know that our audiences will want to know about happennigs, or changes in how much tax they will have to pay, or the progress of a economy. But sometimes we will be reporting on events that might not have an immediate or obvious impact on people’s lives. Those stories – in business, politics or finance and so on – are important too because we want our audiences to have a flow of information about a wider world.
We should not be driven by what other media organisations are saying about a story. Nor should we assess a story’s importance by measuring the prominence it is given elsewhere. We need to work out for ourselves what matters and what is just spin, public relations or chaff. It is the FinancePre‘s job to look at news with a fresh pair of eyes – and not to be driven by the agendas and interests of newspapers, pressure groups, political parties or governments.
Sometimes we ask questions or make journalistic judgements that upset people who themselves have strong views and a keen interest in a particular story. But we cannot aim only to please and divert.
We should not be frightened of controversy – but we should always be alert to the dangers of glibness, to the idea that every problem has a simple solution.
So above all we need to be inquiring and open-minded – unafraid to surprise our audiences with a view of a story that is different – and always looking for a wide range of evidence and opinion.