World Press Freedom Day
3 May acts as 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 importantly, World Press Freedom 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.
Every year, 3 May is a date which celebrates 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. World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993 following a Recommendation adopted at the twenty-sixth 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.
At the core of UNESCO's mandate is freedom of the press and freedom of expression. UNESCO believes that these freedoms allow for mutual understanding to build a sustainable peace.
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.
It is a date to encourage and develop initiatives in favour of press freedom, and to assess the state of press freedom worldwide.
World Press Freedom Day 2021
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, and to advance transparency and empowerment while leaving no one behind. The theme is of urgent relevance to all countries across the world. It recognizes the changing communications system that is impacting on our health, our human rights, democracies and sustainable development.
To underline the importance of information within our online media environment, WPFD 2021 will highlight three key topics:
- 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.
Read more in the concept note
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Celebrations around the world
UNESCO and partners will organize celebrations around the world. Register your event here in order to feature it in our map of celebrations.
World Press Freedom Day 2021 International Conference
The 2021 International Conference is hosted by UNESCO and the Government of Namibia. It will take place on 29 April - 3 May in Windhoek. The event will be a physical and digital experience combining virtual and in-presence participation. Register now to be part of the regional forums, side events, keynotes, artistic showcases, films screenings and more! Join media leaders, activists, policymakers, media and legal experts, artists and researchers from all over the world.
The Conference will call on the urgency to address the threat of extinction faced by local news media around the world, a crisis worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. It will put forward ideas to tackle the challenges of our online media environment, push for more transparency, strengthen safety of journalists and improve their working conditions, and support independent media.
30th Anniversary of Windhoek Declaration
World Press Freedom Day has its origins in a UNESCO conference in Windhoek in 1991. The event ended on 3 May with the adoption of the landmark Windhoek Declaration for the Development of a Free, Independent and Pluralistic Press. After 30 years, the historic connection made between the freedom to seek, impart and receive information and the public good remains as relevant as it was at the time of its signing. Special commemorations of the 30th anniversary are planned to take place during World Press Freedom Day International Conference.
WPFD 2021 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE QUICK LINKS
WPFD 2021 QUICK LINKS
WHAT DOES UNESCO DO FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
NEWS ALL NEWS
- Registration now open: 2021 World Press Freedom Day Global Conference
- Why information is a public good: Share a video message dedicated to World Press Freedom Day
- Call to submit abstracts for the 2021 Academic Conference on Safety of Journalists now open
- Two leading women journalists to join 2021 Jury of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize
RESOURCES
- Previous commemorations : 2020 (December) - 2020 (May) - 2019 - 2018 - 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014
- Resolution adopted by UNESCO's General Conference in 1991
- UN website about this day
- All Commemorations
- Addis Ababa Declaration
- WPFD 2020 Concept Note
- Windhoek Declaration (1991)
- African Charter on Broadcasting 2001 - Final Report, 3-5 May 2001, Windhoek