Every year, World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) is organised by UNESCO, the UN agency in charge of safeguarding and promoting pluralism, media independence, and freedom of expression.
The international community will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Day's proclamation by the United Nations General Assembly during this year's (2023) observance, making it especially noteworthy. It will provide an opportunity to assess the progress made by UNESCO and its partners in recent decades in securing press freedom across the globe as well as to highlight the new dangers associated with the digital era.
The basis for both democracy and justice is press freedom. It provides all of us with the information necessary to form opinions and challenge authority. Furthermore, press freedom serves as the very foundation of human rights, as this year's theme reminds us.
Press freedom is being attacked everywhere in the world. Disinformation and hate speech that tries to muddy the lines between science and conspiracy and reality pose a threat to the truth.
The media sector is becoming more concentrated in the hands of a select few, numbers of independent news organisations are going bankrupt, and there are more national rules and regulations that inhibit journalists, all of which are increasing censorship and endangering freedom of expression.
While performing their essential jobs, journalists and media professionals are directly targeted online and offline. They frequently face harassment, intimidation, detention, and imprisonment.
Incredibly, the number of media employees killed in 2022 increased by 50% from the year before, to at least 67. One in four female journalists have been physically intimidated, and nearly three quarters have suffered online aggression.
The United Nations created a Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists ten years ago to safeguard media professionals and put an end to crimes against them going unpunished.
On this and every World Press Freedom Day, the world must speak with one voice:- Stop the assaults and threats.... Stop holding and jailing journalists for performing their duties..... Stop spreading misinformation and lies.....Stop persecuting those who speak the truth....The world supports journalists as they defend the truth.
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