United Nations/Fraser Valley – May 3 is the annual celebration and awareness of World Press Freedom Day. While we can spend out time complaining about COVID, politics, sports and conspiracy theories…
Be Grateful.
We are lucky to have freedom of the press. In many parts of the world, dissenting voices are silenced.
World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 1993, following the recommendation of UNESCO’s General Conference. Since then, 3 May, the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek is celebrated worldwide as World Press Freedom Day.
May 3 acts as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom. It is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics. It is an opportunity to:
celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom;
assess the state of press freedom throughout the world;
defend the media from attacks on their independence;
and pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
Now the part about journalists losing their lives. That is usually not the case in North America ( a rarity but it does happen), however, we get our fair share of threats, be it physical, legal or verbal. There remains a danger for all of us in this crazy business. It’s not glamourous at all.
