Today we celebrate World Press Freedom Day

Every year on May 3, we celebrate Press Freedom and the fundamental principles of press freedom; to evaluate press freedom around the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession.

On World Press Freedom day we remember captured SA photographer #ShiraazMohamed – missing in Syria since January 10.

— Govan Whittles 🇿🇦 (@govanwhittles) May 3, 2017

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, this day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993 following a recommendation adopted at the 26th session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 1991. This, in turn, was a response to a call by African journalists who in 1991 produced the landmark Windhoek Declaration on media pluralism and independence.

https://twitter.com/teddyeugene/status/859589884381736960
Therefore, it serves as an occasion to inform citizens of violations of press freedom – a reminder that in dozens of countries around the world, publications are censored, fined, suspended and closed down, while journalists, editors and publishers are harassed, attacked, detained and even murdered. So, it is a date to encourage and develop initiatives in favour of press freedom and to assess the state of press freedom worldwide.

It's the World #PressFreedom Day. This map from @RSF_en shows how free the press is around the globe https://t.co/pK4HErH3GD #WPFD17 pic.twitter.com/yq3mJubFUU

— Digital EU 🇪🇺 (@DigitalEU) May 3, 2017

This is a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to Press Freedom and is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics. Just as important, this day is a day of support for media which are targets for the restraint, or abolition, of press freedom. It is also a day of remembrance for those journalists who lost their lives in the pursuit of a story.

Source: UNESCO