Every year, May 3rd is the world's biggest celebration of press freedom. It's a day to assess press freedom around the world, to shield the media from assaults on their rights, and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the pursuit of their profession. A reminder that becoming a journalist can be suicide. Publications and the people who work with them are threatened, assaulted, and even murdered. Publications are restricted, fined, and shuttered down.
It's a great opportunity to: It's a chance to:
- Press freedom's founding principles are lauded; press freedom's fundamentals are celebrated
- Investigate the state of press freedom around the world; assess the situation of press freedom around the world; and
- The media is shielded from threats to their freedom; the media is shielded from attacks on their rights; the media is shielded from attacks on their freedom;
- Press journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty. We salute journalists who have lost their lives in the service of duty
The number of journalists, editors, photographers, and other U.S. newsroom employees dropped by 5 percent in the United States over the last 15 years. As news business models continue to be in flux, it is expected that more newsrooms will follow suit. There are now 1,500 "ghost newspapers" in which skeleton employees are providing little to no local news coverage. Thousands of people in some countries have lost a newspaper over the past year.
Visit the Press Freedom Day website. www.pressfreeday.com To express yourself, use your local newspaper. Write a letter to the editor addressing something that you are passionate about.
Read George Orwell's 1984, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 all depict a society without a free press. The United States has a free press.
Follow #PressFreedomDay, or #WorldPressFreedomDay on social media. Follow us on social media with #PressFreedomDay or #WorldPressFreedomDay.
History
In 1976, a group of independent journalists was formed by a group of independent journalists to promote and defend press freedom, covering 44 media companies around the world. Following the United Nations General Assembly's recommendation in 1991, the UN General Assembly officially declared World Press Freedom Day in 1993.
