The biggest 21st century achievement is the establishment of
free media that has been a strong and robust recourse against
abuses of power within the democratic structures of modern
societies. It is not unusual for the three traditional areas of
power – legislative, executive and judicial – to make mistakes
and operate less perfectly than they might. This is more likely
to happen under authoritarian and dictatorial regimes, where the
political realm is mainly responsible for violations of human
rights and attacks on liberties. In a democratic framework the
media have often seen it as a duty to denounce such violations
of human rights. Journalists have paid the price: they have been
physically attacked, murdered or have disappeared. This is why;
media is often seen as the “fourth estate”. Thanks to the civic
responsibility of the media and the courage of individual
journalists, this fourth estate has provided a fundamental and
democratic means for people to criticize, reject and reverse
decisions (unfair, unju