World Press Freedom Day: Journalism without Fear or Favour

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.”