ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the normative implications of historical and contemporary debates and struggles between discourses and activists aiming to protect press freedom and those advocating for the need of communication rights and media regulation. It argues that this conflict can be related to distinct normative positions concerning the role of media and communication in a democratic society, and competing views as to the balance of power in society between market forces and the state. The chapter presents a brief theoretical framework, based on Berlin's distinction between negative and positive liberties, which will subsequently serve to contextualise the discursive and normative conflicts between communication freedoms and rights. It also addresses three cases in more detail, first UNESCO's MacBride Report, second the UN's World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and lastly the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics in the UK. WSIS addresses 'the whole range of relevant issues related to the information society'.
