Covering or covering up? The effects of media freedom and major disasters on social and economic rights

Abstract

A common assumption regarding media freedom is that free media will hold government accountable and improve citizens’ lives. The assumption is that media will report any repression, thereby discouraging further abuse. Yet repression takes many forms, some of which are less likely to garner news coverage. We posit that social and economic inequities are unlikely to gain media attention unless some news event draws attention to them. Specifically, we theorize that the effect of media freedom on social and economic rights will depend on the occurrence of disasters. We test this hypothesis across countries and over time (2005-2015) and find that media freedom only makes a difference in social and economic rights following major natural disasters.