By Our
Correspondent, Nairobi KENYA
The world is marking Press Freedom Day today May 3, an annual event that will see online debates and workshops take center stage.
UNESCO is launching a global campaign on media and
social media channels, with a focus on “Journalism without Fear or Favour” in
an increasingly complex media landscape.
This day acts as a reminder to governments of the need to
respect their commitment to press freedom and is also a day of reflection among
media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics.
Just as importantly, World Press Freedom Day is a day of support
for media which are targets for the restraint, or abolition, of press freedom.
It is also a day of remembrance for those journalists who lost
their lives in the pursuit of a story.
The day also celebrates the fundamental principles of press
freedom, 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.
World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General
Assembly in 1993 following a Recommendation adopted at the twenty-sixth
session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 1991.
Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of
World Press Freedom Day said, “At a time when we are mired in worry and
uncertainty because of the coronavirus pandemic, free information is essential
to helping us face, understand, think about and overcome this crisis.”
She added that, “We must consider the vital importance of
information in this situation: informing the public means giving everyone the
means of combatting the illness by adopting appropriate practices. This is why
the Organization has teamed up with the rest of the United Nations family to
fight the “infodemic” of rumours and disinformation which is exacerbating the
pandemic and putting lives at risk. To help put an end to the problem, we have
joined forces to promote two major social-media campaigns, Together for Facts,
Science and Solidarity and Don’t Go Viral.”
Indeed her message was amplified by UN Secretary-General
António Guterres who submitted that, “As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads, it has
also given rise to a second pandemic of misinformation, from harmful health
advice to wild conspiracy theories. The press provides the antidote: verified,
scientific, fact-based news and analysis.”
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