World Press Freedom Day, May 3
According to UN, In December 1933, UN general assembly with the recommendation of UNESCO's general conference declared May 3 as World Press Freedom day.
This day was declared to respect press freedom. It is also the day of sharing issues faced by the media professionals on press freedom and professional ethics.
According to UN, This year’s World Press Freedom Day theme, “Information as a Public Good” serves as a call to affirm the importance of cherishing information as a public good and exploring what can be done in the production, distribution and reception of content to strengthen journalism, to advance transparency and empowerment.
Key topics of World Press Freedom Day 2021
-Steps to ensure the economic viability of news media;
-Mechanisms for ensuring transparency of Internet companies;
-Enhanced Media and Information Literacy (MIL) capacities that enable people to recognize and value, as well as defend and demand journalism as a vital part of information; as a public good.
Events around the world:
On this day all over the world, various events take place to spread awareness on press and press freedom. It includes Regional Forums, Academic Conferences and Youth Newsroom. Other than that, UNESCO has partnered with various organizations around the world to celebrate this day. On this day, UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize will be awarded to the selected press personalities. According to the UN, investigative journalist and media executive, Maria Ressa of Philippines has been named as the 2021 laureate of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.The award ceremony will take place at the World Press Freedom Day Global Conference.
This annual award was created in 1997 to honour a person, organization or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the defence and/or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world.
