On World Press Freedom Day 2022, journalists around the world, many of them now in exile, are pushing back against a growing crackdown on a free press.
More than 130 journalists were killed in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Honduras in the years between 2011 and 2020, many of them attacked while investigating political issues, corruption, and organized crime. RSF has analyzed the attacks and found that half of the journalists had received threats related to their work.
Monday, May 3, is World Press Freedom Day, a global day of recognition for journalists around the world, particularly those who are standing up for truth and revealing information in the public interest despite political intimidation, government oppression, and threats of violence.
In this edition of Document of the Day, we feature a new report out from UNESCO detailing that over the past decade, a journalist has been killed on average every four days. In 2018-2019, UNESCO recorded a total of 156 killings of journalists worldwide. See our roundup with links to the full report in English and links to resources in other languages.
This Sunday, May 3, is World Press Freedom Day, an initiative to stand up for journalists around the world, particularly those who are facing repression.
Over the past twelve years, close to 1,010 journalists have been killed for reporting the news and bringing information to the public. On average, this constitutes one death every four days. In nine out of ten cases the killers go unpunished.
At a time when the news media is under unprecedented attack, and the need for watchdog reporting has never been greater, we hope you will join GIJN today in marking World Press Freedom Day (#WorldPressFreedomDay). This is the 25th celebration of WPFD, but despite the years of meetings and proclamations by its sponsors UNESCO and others, conditions are getting worse, not better, for journalists around the world.
Every four days, a journalist is killed somewhere in the world. This data comes from UNESCO, which estimates that between 2006 and 2016, 930 journalists were killed worldwide. On Wednesday, the Committee to Protect Journalists released their 10th annual Global Impunity Index, just before the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists on November 2.
The ability to protect journalism sources in the digital age is rapidly deteriorating. Those are the conclusions of an important new study recently released by UNESCO. GIJN has excerpted key portions here, drawn from extensive research and interviews with investigative reporters, editors, legal experts and freedom of expression specialists from 17 countries.
This year, World Press Freedom Day’s theme “Critical Minds for Critical Times” drives home the need for everyone to sharpen their minds to defend the freedoms — free, independent, and pluralistic media — that are essential for justice and peace. Without audiences demanding well-researched and conflict-sensitive narratives, critical reporting will be increasingly side-lined. Every citizen has a direct stake in the quality of the information environment.
