World Press Freedom Day

Media professionals, including photojournalists, who risk their lives in the line of duty are recognized on World Press Information Day. ©iStockphoto.com/ Jess Wiberg

What do people do?

World Press Freedom Day gives people the chance to pay tribute to media professionals who risked or lost their lives in the line of duty. As part of the 2008 celebration, UNESCO aims to explore how media freedom and access to information help to empower people. UNESCO is organizing with regional media organizations the 10th annual Caribbean Media and Communication Conference in Guyana from May 1- 3 in 2008.

The UK National Commission for UNESCO is organizing various events across the United Kingdom to mark World Press Freedom Day 2008. The events aim to raise public awareness and the understanding of the ideals that underline World Press Freedom Day. Central to the activities planned is the topical question “Is new media killing journalism?”.

The 2008 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize is being awarded to Mexican freelance investigative journalist Lydia Cacho Ribeiro, who frequently covered stories on organized crime and corruption. In 2006, she reported on the violent death of hundreds of young women in the Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez.

Public life

World Press Freedom Day is not a public holiday and public life is not affected.

Background

World Press Freedom Day was established by the General Assembly of the United Nations in December 1993 as an outgrowth of the Seminar on Promoting an Independent and Pluralistic African Press. This seminar took place in Namibia in 1991 and led to the adoption of the Windhoek Declaration on Promoting Independent and Pluralistic Media.

The Windhoek Declaration called to establish, maintain and foster an independent, pluralistic and free press. It emphasized the importance of a free press for developing and maintaining democracy in a nation, and for economic development. World Press Freedom Day is celebrated annually on May 3, the date on which the Windhoek Declaration was adopted.

Although World Press Freedom Day has only been celebrated since 1993, it has much deeper roots in the United Nations. Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights states that everyone “has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers".

Each year since 1997, the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize is awarded to honor the work of an individual or an organization defending or promoting freedom of expression, especially if it puts the individual’s life at risk. The award is named after a journalist murdered in 1986 after denouncing drug barons. Last year it was awarded posthumously to a Russian investigative reporter who was murdered in a contract-style killing in 2006.

World Press Freedom Day Observances

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