World Press Freedom Day

PFF continues to stand with media colleagues around the world and more specifically in the Pacific to observe this year’s theme, “Journalism under digital siege”.

We need to value and support the critical work of journalists countering the mis- and disinformation flooding our communications channels, especially during crises, conflicts, and elections. The good news is that when the media and civil society work together, they create a better information climate – and a healthier civic space – for us all.

Around 26 organizations, press associations, journalists, and civil society groups have organized an activity and released a statement in time for World Press Freedom Day highlighting the campaign for press freedom and the reforms needed to uphold freedom of expression in the country.

With authoritarianism and illiberalism on the rise, democratic governments must lead by example, says IPI on World Press Freedom Day.

IFEX partnered with the International Freedom of Expression Project on an exhibit to spotlight the work being done around the globe to defend freedom of expression, and launch a proposal for a ‘marketplace of ideas’ artist space in downtown Pittsburgh.

Read Annie Game’s remarks at the launch of a unique WPFD exhibit, and listen to a special Africa Brief podcast marking 30 years since the landmark Windhoek Declaration.

Frankly, it has become far too easy to interfere with the media’s key role in supporting fair elections and healthy democracies. As the Executive Director of the IFEX network writes, each World Press Freedom Day is an opportunity to renew our vow to make it difficult for those who try to do so.

We need to support a free and independent media; efforts to undermine them are on the rise, and we need to hear a diversity of voices and opinions more than ever. Our 2018 campaign images underscore the fact that one side of the story is never enough.

Two recent cases of violence against journalists in Papua highlight the empty promise of Press Law protections in Indonesia’s easternmost province, as well as the false hopes of President Joko Widodo, who more than two years ago promised to open foreign press access to the area.

A PPF report covering the period January 2016 to April 2017 points to indications that all branches of state are determined to control the media, rather than promoting a safe and secure environment for the growth of pluralistic democratic media institutions.

On World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) 2017, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) shares a number of stories that demonstrate the devastating decline of free expression and press freedom in the region.

Ethiopian journalist Eskinder Nega, imprisoned since 2011, has been named IPI’s 69th World Press Freedom Hero.

As IFEX enters its 25th year, Executive Director Annie Game asks: Is freedom of the press still worth defending? More than ever.

We honour the bravery of journalists who face obstacles head on, and the ingenuity they show in getting around them. But journalists themselves cannot – and should not – be press freedom’s only line of defense.

To mark World Press Freedom Day, take a tour of some events that are chilling – or warming – the climate for free media in countries around the globe.

On 3 May, join the worldwide call to #FreeMazen.