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Investigative Journalism Key Measure of Democracy Health
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A democracy is measured by its citizens’ ability to speak freely, Catalina Botera, special rapporteur for freedom of expression at the Organization of American States, said yesterday during the opening plenary at the eighth biennial Global Investigative Journalism Conference. “Half the population doesn’t live in a democracy. The other avatar.jpg.75x75px50 percent struggle to protect freedom of speech,” she said. “In the alleged democracies, the thermometer is free speech. And investigation journalism is the mercury. Only if we protect investigative journalists can we say we live in a democracy.”