World Press Freedom Day
This entry was meant to have been posted as part of Bloggers Unite’s World Press Freedom day celebration (hats off to the Bloggers Unite guys for getting people to write and contribute their time for worthwhile causes) on 3 May 2009.
World Freedom day is mandated by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation). From the Bloggers Unite website:
“The United Nations General Assembly declared 3 May to be World Press Freedom Day to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and marking the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek, a statement of free press principles put together by African newspaper journalists in 1991.”
The World Association of Newspapers has a wonderful website dedicated to World Press Freedom Day and press freedom in general. This site includes statistics on journalists who have been killed, arrested and incarcerated in pursuit of their profession. I will leave it to WAN to describe and highlight the issues surrounding press freedom as it applies to the mainstream press.
Millions of bloggers all over the world are writers, journalists, editors and publishers in their own right. Some of these bloggers are writing in countries that have repressive regimes and tough censorship laws. Cuba, Egypt, Myanmar and others are amongst these.
Bloggers express themselves and take stands without the protection of a large media organisation that could watch their backs. The risks are all theirs. And the rewards are often minuscule. Their bravery and insight can often go unnoticed except by a very select few readers who discover their blogs on the internet.
It is to these people that I dedicate World Press Freedom day.
What They Said