The principle of freedom of press in the context of national security: case studies of investigative journalism

Abstract

The principle of the freedom of press in the context of national security is a challenge when it comes to the balance between individual liberties of investigative journalists, and the right of the nation to protect its national security. The author creates this research question: how do the judicial authorities in democratic nations, reconcile the imperative of national security with the principle of press freedom, in cases concerning investigative journalism? The aim of the research is to highlight the importance of the principle of press freedom within healthy democratic political communities, through specific caselaw of investigative journalism; and to investigate the approach by judicial authorities when the principle is challenged by national security concerns. Through landmark cases, the results indicate that judicial authorities use the principle of proportionality when weighting the right of journalistic individual liberties against national security interests of the State.