(MintPress) — Freedom of the press, a protected First Amendment right often taken for granted in the U.S., is one of the motivating factors driving popular revolutions in the ongoing “Arab Spring” uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa. While many activists’ focus demands on an end to corrupt hegemonic rule and better economic opportunities, a bevy of freedoms, including the right to openly criticize elected officials in the press, continues to drive demonstrations.
A report published Monday by Edson Tandoc Jr., a doctoral student at the Missouri University school of Journalism, found that press freedoms generally increase happiness among citizens. The meticulous study cross referenced happiness surveys with press freedoms, finding a strong correlation between the two. Tandoc, Jr. and his co-author, Bruno Takahasi of Michigan State University, contend that “press freedoms benefit communities by helping to improve the overall quality for life for citizens.”
While many other freedoms and rights, such as clean air and water, quality healthcare and a bevy of democratic freedoms, also contribute to overall human happiness, the study reflects a growing trend of institutions taking a more expansive view of human happiness — one that goes beyond a mere dollars and cents calculation of the economy and job growth. The U.S. ranked respectably 14 out of 155 countries surveyed. However, other studies demonstrate that press freedoms are under attack in the U.S. as citizens and journalists covering protest movements frequently experience police interference and censorship.
The study
Tandoc Jr. and Takahashi analyzed data from the 2010 Gallup poll on national happiness. The exhaustive Gallup survey was conducted in 2005-2009 by asking thousands of respondents across the world about their satisfaction on a range of issues.
Respondents were asked to reflect on a range of “daily experiences,” such as whether they felt well-rested, healthy, free of pain, respected and intellectually challenged. People generally responding positively to these questions were recorded as “thriving.”
Overall, the Gallup survey found that countries in Northern Europe tended to have the highest happiness ratings. Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden had the highest percentages of “thriving” and “happy citizens.”
Conversely, Comoros, Burundi and Togo scored the worst in terms of national happiness.
Using this information, Tandoc Jr. and Takahashi compared national happiness to Freedom House reports on press freedoms. The pair found that those countries with high levels of happiness generally had a free press in which reporters and citizens could publish articles on virtually any topic, including those critical of government policies.
The study was originally published in the Social Indicators Research, an international journal dedicated to quality of life measurement. The findings were also presented at the International Communication Association 2012 conference in Phoenix, Ariz.
NDAA and slipping press freedoms in the U.S.
Earlier this year, Reporters Without Borders released its annual Press Freedom analysis for 2011-2012. The report ranked press freedoms in countries around the world by measuring government censorship and self-censorship by journalists.
“It is no surprise that the same trio of countries, Eritrea, Turkmenistan and North Korea, absolute dictatorships that permit no civil liberties, again occupy the last three places in the index. This year, they are immediately preceded at the bottom by Syria, Iran and China, three countries that seem to have lost contact with reality as they have been sucked into an insane spiral of terror.”
Bahrain, Syria and Yemen, three countries currently experiencing upheaval and violent conflict, also ranked near the bottom in terms of press freedoms.
The basic assertion of Reporters Without Borders, among others, is that press freedoms are an integral part of any democratic system, a form of government that many would agree, contributes to human happiness. According to the report, “This serves as a reminder that media independence can only be maintained in strong democracies and that democracy needs media freedom.”
The U.S. slipped 27 spots, falling to 47 on the list. Authors of the report attribute this slip to the suppression of the Occupy Movement, including citizen journalists covering arrests and confrontations with police.
The National Defense Authorization Act signed into law December 2011 by the Obama administration has also contributed significantly to self-censorship and media suppression. The legislation allocates $662 billion in funding for the defense of U.S. interests at home and abroad.
While of the funding will be used to combat terrorism, the “indefinite detention clause” raised anger among many Americans fearing that their constitutional rights were being attacked. The provision would allow the government to detain any American without charge or due process of law if he is suspected of terrorism. American citizens are, of course, afforded due process of law, and any abrogation of this would be unconstitutional.
This, many claim, will also suppress open debate and criticism by citizens fearful that their words, whether written or spoken, could lead to their arbitrary, indefinite detention.
The provision was eventually overturned by a Federal Court in May when academics Chris Hedges, Naomi Wolf and Noam Chomsky filed a lawsuit challenging the indefinite detention clause.
Correlation or causation?
Some critics believe that there may be flaws in the research. Although those countries that generally enjoy press freedoms have greater happiness among citizens, there are myriad other freedoms that citizens generally enjoy in these countries which also contribute to overall national happiness.
The correlation versus causation dilemma is one that limits the research because countries with press freedoms also tend to have other democratic freedoms, such as freedom of religion, free and transparent elections and equal protection under the law.
Although freedom of the press can be seen as a direct contributory factor to overall well-being, it is by no means the only factor producing happiness. Additionally, critics charge that the study does little to quantify the degree to which press freedoms produce this happiness.
Although no study is totally conclusive, there is much evidence to suggest that self-criticism is beneficial to a society, allowing citizens to express grievances with government and corporate policies.
Some countries, like Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Vietnam, go to extraordinary lengths to silence criticism of their monarchical or hegemonic governments. In April, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia reformed the 2000 Press and Publications Law, further prohibiting speech that “contradicts rulings of the Islamic Sharia [law] or regulations in force.”
In another example, the Committee to Protect Journalists reports that Vietnamese authorities arrested and detained blogger Phan Thanh Hai for four months without charge in 2010.
The researchers acknowledged the complicated nature of human happiness as having several factors, many of which are not based on the economy. “Things like improving the economy alone are insufficient for increasing happiness. Protecting press freedom is also an important component of the happiness web,” said Tandoc Jr.
Important happiness factors, like environmental wellness, freedom to criticize government policies and human rights, are attributable to a free press, according to the study. Indeed, many of the countries that have limited press freedoms typically suppress other social and political freedoms.
On this point, Tandoc Jr. believes, “A country with a free press is expected to be more open about what is wrong in their societies and with their environments. A free press is likely to report about poor human conditions and environmental degradation, bringing problems to the attention of decision-makers. It should not come as a surprise, therefore, that press freedom is positively related to both environmental quality and human development.”
Many countries have begun to consider a more expansive view of citizen happiness, one that is not based purely on the economy. Measures like Gross Domestic Product, unemployment and job growth, while important, are not the sum total of human happiness.
Gross national happiness
Even international bodies have begun to take notice of this important fact. The idea of promoting citizen happiness as a national policy may have begun with the Fourth Dragon King of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchucka, who declared in 1972, “Gross national happiness was more important for his country than gross domestic product.”
Wangchucka promoted the idea as a way to preserve his country’s Buddhist tradition and unique Bhutanese culture in a rapidly modernizing era. Bhutan is a small landlocked country in South Asia, bordering China.
The idea was originally a general guide for national policy, but has since been studied and developed as an actual measure by the Center for Bhutan Studies.
Economists and those involved in international development have traditionally used economic measures like Gross Domestic Product to determine the progress and well-being of a country. However, an increasing number of international bodies contend that simple economic measures are too myopic in their expression of national well-being and individual satisfaction.
The United Nations General Assembly officially adopted the Bhutanese model in a resolution July 2011. The quorum found that the “pursuit of happiness is a fundamental human goal.” The resolution also called for a “balanced” approach to economic growth — one that promotes sustainable development and poverty eradication.