Every year, May 3 is when the world celebrates the fundamental principles of press freedom. It’s a day to evaluate press freedom around the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession. At the core of the date is a reminder that it can be suicide to become a journalist. Publications and the people who work with them are harassed, attacked, murdered. Publications are censored, fined and closed down.
World Press Freedom Committee was established in 1976 by a batch of independent journalists to promote and defend press freedom and cover 44 media organizations from around the world. In 1993, the UN General Assembly officially proclaimed World Press Freedom Day following the recommendation of UNESCO’s General Conference in 1991.
This year’s World Press Freedom Day theme “Information as a Public Good”. The theme is of urgent relevance to all countries across the world. It recognizes the changing communications system that is impacting our health, our human rights, democracies and sustainable development.
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