It is clear that the freedom of expression, and thus the freedom of the media, is very precisely regulated in almost all laws, constitutions, proclamations and declarations around the world. Generally speaking, there is no law in the country that restricts freedom of expression. Even in the most rigid totalitarian societies, such as North Korea today or the USSR, fascist Italy and the former Yugoslavia, there was no preamble prohibiting freedom of expression.

Unfortunately, the restrictions are much wiser and more carefully hidden in various "invisible" by-laws and vague decrees on the ground, which annulled what was loudly announced by the Constitution or a similar declaratory act.

The reason lies in the fact that freedom of expression through the media enables the realization of other human rights, among which are: participation in public affairs (such as the right to vote and chosing) as well as in cultural life, peaceful assembly and association, education, freedom of thought, conscience and religion, favourable working conditions and health...

Analysing the history of mass media and the development of democracy in individual countries, it is clear that freedom is not a once-and-for-all defined category. Such freedom is not something immutable, characteristic only of advanced democratic countries, nor is it a flaw that falls from the sky, which, once a certain level of freedom is achieved, no longer needs to be worried about...

Figuratively speaking, the freedom of the media is a "tender and sensitive plant" that the individual and society should water daily, nurture and never leave it at the mercy of those in power who want to have influence and benefit from the media.

Journalists and other media workers, especially those who have many years of unpleasant experience of living and working in totalitarian regimes and social systems, warn of how short the path is from fragile freedom of the media to lack of freedom and suppression of the media.

Journalists continue to die

Unfortunately, the problems faced by journalists are not of an abstract nature. The United Nations has reported that threats and attacks against journalists and media workers are on the rise around the world. According to UNESCO's 2022 report on world trends in freedom of expression and media development from 2016 to 2021, as many as 455 journalists were killed for their work, while 85% of the world's population experienced a decline in press freedom in their countries.

Meanwhile, during 2022, especially due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the increase in violence in the Middle East, Asia, Central and South America, as many as 57 journalists and four media workers were killed in the world. During 2023, the number of journalists killed "dropped" to a round figure of 50. So far, during 2024, two journalists were killed, while 503 of them were arrested.

The situation is not rosy at all according to those associations that deal with monitoring journalistic freedoms around the world. That is how Reporters Without Borders published the document World Press Freedom Indexes for 2023 on their website rsf.org.

According to their research, out of 180 observed countries, the situation is "very serious" in 31 countries, "difficult" in 42, "problematic" in 55, and "good" or "satisfactory" in only 52 countries.

In mathematical terms, the environment for journalism is "bad" in seven out of ten countries, and satisfactory in only three out of ten.

The pinnacle of media freedom is, not surprisingly, the Nordic countries of Europe, among which Norway is the leader, and Ireland as a "miracle" country that is progressing on all socio-political and economic scales, and took second place. The third is Denmark, a country where journalists enjoy enormous freedom.

Croatia is the 42^nd and Bosnia and Herzegovina the 64^th country in terms of press freedom. Reporters Without Borders for BiH says: "The media operate in a relatively favourable legal environment, but in an extremely unfavourable political and economic milieu. Journalists do not feel protected while doing their work. There are large differences in media freedom and the quality of journalism across the country."

Unfortunately, at the back are three Asian countries where it is not advisable to be a journalist. Vietnam (178^th place) is a country that has almost finished the "hunt" for independent reporters and commentators; China (179^th) is the world's biggest jailer of journalists and one of the biggest exporters of propaganda content, and North Korea (180^th), about which we don't even need to waste a word.

The best journalist in the press for 2022.

On the trail of thinking about censorship and self-censorship and freedom of the media, we were interested in what it is like to be a media worker in Herzegovina (and Bosnia) and we contacted Kristina Spajić-Perić, a long-time journalist, and for the last five years the editor-in-chief of the portal hercegovina.info, also a member Supervisory Board of the Association of Journalists of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

At the beginning of the conversation, she told us that journalism is neither a profitable nor a safe profession in Bosnia and Herzegovina. "Journalists are poorly paid, drive mediocre vehicles, repay loans often until death for the only real estate for themselves and their family. On the other hand, we have a privileged caste and profession of politicians and their children, who have multimillion-dollar fleets, a dozen properties each in the country and the world, and whose achievements the journalist should examine as well as their own. These are often David and Goliath battles in which David does not win, or that he loses every day. I am the author of the series articles about corruption and crime, for some of which I have also received professional awards. In the end, the system does not respond to crime, it drags and moulds items in the drawers for months and years, so the people under investigation get to sue you, drag you out for defamation, which is actually the living truth, and prevent you work because you are exhausted in the courts. I am personally in that situation", said Kristina and noted that on May 3^rd last year, the Association of Journalists of Bosnia and Herzegovina awarded her the award for the best journalist in print media in Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2022, based on the articles on the Fifth Floor affair.

"That affair is being investigated by SIPA and the HNŽ Prosecutor's Office precisely because of my articles, documentation has been seized, numerous people have been questioned, but to every inquiry we get the answer 'the investigation is ongoing'. In the meantime, the main actor, the former director, hired two lawyers, one of whom was a former judge, to sue us for libel. Alleged libel is a higher priority for our 'justice system' than crime", she said, explaining the situation of journalists who investigate corruption and crime.

"I have two children, I would never advise them to become journalists, especially not in Bosnia and Herzegovina. When I think of my call, the first thing that comes to mind is a stomach cramp, which clearly reminds me of everything I've been through as a contrarian for the past 20 years. However, along with cramp comes love. I don't know and I don't want to do anything else. I still bite, twitch, enjoy every good article and its positive effects on society. It must be admitted that the situation, albeit very slowly, is changing for the better. There is more and more light in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and even where there is none, it will have to be lit. The judicial system will have to function, and the rule of law, especially in the context of the EU. The key in this process will be the media and journalists", Spajić-Perić pointed out and asserted that she noticed "that a good journalist is always a good person with high moral values".

Finally, she added that a few days before giving her statement to Katolički tjednik, she found a broken windshield on a private vehicle. "Believe me that I did not report it, nor did I publish it anywhere, although I am a tireless legalist who does not believe in this system of ours, and reports everything. Why didn't I? Because we had such situations on several occasions, and slashing tires and breaking windows of colleagues. We would have lost our day if we reported it, and, according to experience, no one has ever told us anything about potential perpetrators", said Kristina and returned to the fundamental problem in BiH: "We do not have an effective police, prosecutor's office and judiciary."

Work in religious media

We wanted to find out what it's like to work in the Catholic media, on the trail of media freedom, and we contacted Hrvoje Josip Bišćan from the Croatian Catholic Radio in Zagreb. As a theologian, about 20 years ago, he was invited to join the Religious Editorial Board of HKR. He had no journalistic training, except for experience in the parish paper. As he told us, "it is a fortunate circumstance that journalism is a lifelong skill".

"Working in the Religious editorial office of HKR significantly marked and formed me as a journalist, theologian, believer, but also as a human being. At HKR, I'm lucky that I don't have direct pressure from politics or advertisers, I don't have to write and say something against my conscience, but mostly I can choose topics and through that choice promote positive values, beautiful stories and valuable thoughts. For example, right after the earthquake in Petrinja, I went to Banovina for two whole weeks and in meetings with people I witnessed, and conveyed to the public, the efforts of the people there to survive and the great efforts of all the known and unknown who rushed to their aid", Hrvoje told us and added that in his work he follows social networks where (it may seem strange to some) there are also wonderful thoughts and where you can learn more about useful initiatives.

"Priests, well acquainted with our efforts and aware that we are a kind of voice of the Church, also send suggestions that we are happy to take into account. And the institutions are aware that we are not their spokespersons, so no one insists on publishing something that is not in accordance with our guidelines", said Bišćan, noting that "the only real limitation he has in his work is his conscience". At the end, he added that the conscience "if it is properly formed, will not allow writing and speaking about negativity in individuals, but will allow denouncing public injustice, corruption and sin".

One date is not enough

As the problem of media freedom is extremely large, the United Nations established another date in 2013,  the International Day of Combating Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. This day was celebrated for the first time on November 2^nd, 2014, and the occasion was the anniversary of the murder of French journalists Claude Verlon and Ghislaine Dupont, who died in the African country of Mali. Additionally, the International Federation of Journalists launched the Dirty Hands campaign in 2020, still in a position of power, on impunity for crimes against journalists, demanding that all governments of the world put an end to violence against media workers.

Despite this, according to UNESCO data, more than 1,350 journalists have been killed in the world in the last 15 years. The math is clear, that's an average of one murdered journalist every four days. Terrible statistics show that in nine out of ten cases, murderers and instigators remain unpunished.

Cases of attacks on journalists in the region, popularly called the Western Balkans, are recorded and monitored in the database on the portal safejournalists.net. Thus, the data show that from 2014 to today in six countries - Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia - more than 2,100 threats and attacks against journalists were recorded.

Also, since the beginning of 2018, the Association of BH Journalists has registered more than 200 criminal acts against journalists, including attempted murder, physical attacks and death threats, as well as other serious forms of endangering the rights and safety of journalists. According to the available data, only a third of the mentioned criminal offenses were adequately investigated and resolved in favour of the victims.

Representatives of the profession are particularly concerned about the increasingly frequent occurrence of online violence and the growing number of threats that journalists receive via social networks and in comments on internet portals.

Ultimately, media freedom not only contributes to better informing the public, but also strengthens democratic processes and protects fundamental human rights. Every individual has the right to freedom of expression and access to information, and free media are key guardians of that right. Therefore, insisting on media freedom should be a priority of every society that strives for justice, transparency and democracy.

The less freedom, the more text in the law

Interestingly, the best worded constitutional principles of freedom of expression can be found in the constitution of the former USSR, a political system known for everything, except freedom of expression.

The most famous and shortest text defining freedom of expression is the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which states that Congress shall pass no law abridging freedom of speech or the press. This short and simple sentence from the distant past deeply reflects the understanding of media freedom and the role of the state. On the other hand, non-democratic countries have very long and broadly written laws on "media freedom".