World Press Freedom Day

“The rights to life and to liberty and integrity and security of person and also to freedom of expression are fundamental human rights that are recognized and guaranteed by international conventions and instruments.” (UNESCO Resolution, General Conference 1997)

May 3rd is the annual World Press Freedom Day. This year’s theme is The Olympic Challenge: Free the Press in China! MediaChannel has put together this special coverage package with resources for those concerned about freedom of the press.

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Despite promises of reform made ahead of the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese authorities have not only failed to respect them, but they have intensified their crackdown on journalists and others who seek to exercise their right to freedom of expression.

Chinese journalists continue to face censorship and repression and authoritarian laws, including subversion, disseminating state secrets and spying, are used by the government to control and restrict newsgathering and information and to jail journalists.

Furthermore, both Chinese-language media based abroad and foreign media have been routinely blocked or jammed in China.

Foreign journalists now reporting from China in the run up to the Olympics are regularly harassed and even expelled, as was the case during the March 2008 events in Tibet. This violates the Organising Committee for the Beijing Olympic Games pledge that foreign media would have “complete freedom to report when they come to China”.

At least 30 journalists and 50 cyber reporters are currently held in Chinese prisons for reporting facts or peacefully expressing their views.

It is high time for China to respect its commitments pertaining to freedom of expression and freedom of the press and to guarantee the right of all people to access information.

This is the clear message we need to impress on the Chinese authorities and other Olympics’ stakeholders on World Press Freedom Day.

– Timothy Balding, CEO World Association of Newspapers

International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) is covering press freedom events happening worldwide:

WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY EVENTS IN AFRICA
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY EVENTS IN THE AMERICAS
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY EVENTS IN ASIA-PACIFIC
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY EVENTS IN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY EVENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

Getting away with murder
Democracies from Colombia to India and Russia to the Philippines are among the worst countries in the world at prosecuting journalists’ killers according to the Impunity Index, a list of countries compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists where governments have consistently failed to solve journalists’ murders.

Database of Journalists Killed 1992-2008
Since 1992, the Committee to Protect Journalists has compiled detailed accounts of every journalist killed on duty worldwide.

Database of Journalists in Prison as of December ‘07

Database of Journalists Missing
CPJ research indicates that the following journalists have disappeared while doing their work. Although some of them are feared dead, no bodies have been found, and they are therefore not classified as “Killed.”

Journalists Call for Global Solidarity to Overcome Threats to Media
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) says global battles for safety, decent work and quality journalism can only be won if journalists stand together in defence of their rights.

World Press Freedom Prize 2008
The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, today designated Lydia Cacho Ribeiro, a freelance reporter based in Cancun, Mexico, as the laureate of the 2008 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.

Cartoons Tell China Story on World Press Freedom Day
While the Olympic athletes race around the track to cheering crowds, policemen outside the stadium race after a man carrying a placard that reads, “Freedom of the Press.”

Popularity: 1% [?]

Well said, alwz.

Journalists can kill, or at least help killing without showing blood - more so in a democratic country than a totalitarian nation. Example: All major media outlets in US lined behind GW Bush when he unilaterally launched the war in Iraq. Any one voiced against the war was labeled as unpatriotic. The consequence, more than 4000 young men and women died and over hundred thousand Iraqis perished, and US is more susceptible to terrorist attack than ever. Propaganda, brainwash are not monopolized by communist regimes only.

press freedom day pakistan and all over the world not press free.