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and the freedom of expression which is that press freedom is not a human right while
freedom of expression is a human right. He further submitted that section 20 of the
Constitution confers and protects a human right which is specifically given to a
private human being in his individual capacity to enjoy. This right, so the argument
goes, is not given to a media institution at all.
Mr Tomana further argued that the
explicit language of section 20 of the Constitution makes it obvious that it is referring
to a human being and not the media or the press. In short, he argued that the domain
wherein free speech is exercised by everyone is distinctly different from the domain
wherein the media demands press freedom while using the common asset or the
people’s strategic and limited asset, the air waves. He concluded by submitting that
the applicant’s assumption that press freedom is subsumed under section 20 of the
Constitution as well as Article 19 of the International Charter of the Civil and
Peoples’ Rights, (ICCPR) is fatally incorrect. Mr Tomana contends that no cause of
action has therefore been established and all prayers founded on section 20 of the
Constitution should fail.
In support of this contention Mr Tomana relied on the work of Robert
W. McChesney entitled Rich Media Poor Democracy at p 269. He also relied on a
presentation by Kaarle Nordenstreng to the International Symposium on the Mass
Media Declaration of UNESCO held on 26 – 28 June 1987 entitled “On the Nature
and Significance of the Declaration”.
The applicant, on the other hand, contends that the freedom of
expression enshrined in section 20 of the Constitution includes freedom of the press
and any interference with the means of communication between citizens constitutes