It is observed on the anniversary of Declaration of Windhoek — a statement of free press principles put together by newspaper journalists in Africa during a UNESCO seminar held in the Namibian city in 1991. The UN General Assembly designated 3 May as World Press Freedom Day in 1993. Each year, World Press Freedom Day is observed to emphasize the importance of press freedom, to protect the independence of the media, and to honour media workers who risk and have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession. The day aims 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.
This year's theme for World Press Freedom Day is 'Access to information and fundamental freedoms — this is your right' with special focus on freedom of information and sustainable development, protecting press freedom from censorship and surveillance overreach and ensuring safety of journalists online and offline. The link between press freedom and sustainable development is made for the first time this year, following the adoption in late 2015 of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030, which recognize the need to “ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements,” (SDG 16 point 10).
According to UNESCO, the importance of free and independent media to inform the citizens of the world is crucial to the achievement of the SDGs. Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, in her message for the Day: “At this time of turbulence and change across the world, including new challenges that require global cooperation and action, the need for quality information has never been so important—this requires a strong environment of press freedom and well-functioning systems to ensure the people’s right to know.” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also issued a message on the day in which he said: “Press freedom and the free flow of information are necessary not only to inform citizens about the [Sustainable Development] Goals, but to enable them to hold their leaders accountable for fulfilling the pledges they have made. The media – including, and increasingly, new online media — serve as our eyes and ears. We all benefit from the information they provide.”
At a time when journalists are facing the risk of arrest for doing their jobs, both globally and domestically, the value of World Press Freedom Day is all the more evident. This is especially true given that the risks journalists face don’t end with arrest. Since 1992, 1,189 journalists have been killed while doing their jobs, according to the Newspaper Association of America. Of those deaths, 787 took place since 2005, with 67 occurring last year, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The Committee to Protect Journalists has reported the death of 72 journalists in 2015 alone. The International Federation of Journalists has reported 26 journalist deaths this year.
A leading journalism advocacy group says media freedom experienced a sharp decline around the world over the past year, citing increasing government restrictions in places like Turkey, Poland, Tajikistan, and Egypt. In its 2016 World Press Freedom Index released on 20 April, Reporters Without Borders said that there had been a “deep and disturbing” decline in freedom of information in many places around the world. The organisation, also known as Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF), said independent media was also increasingly at risk from “religious ideologies” as well as “large-scale propaganda machines”. “Throughout the world, ‘oligarchs’ are buying up media outlets and are exercising pressure that compounds the pressure already coming from governments,” the Paris-based group said. The deadliest country for journalists in 2015 was Syria, where 14 were killed, followed by France with nine, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Around the world, 72 journalists were killed in 2015 and 10 have been killed so far this year.
More than 85 percent of countries in the world live with either partial or no press freedom. In 2015, press freedom declined to its lowest point in 12 years, according to a 2016 press freedom report released late last month by Freedom House, an independent watchdog organization. Only a small percentage (13 percent) of countries throughout the world enjoy press freedom. Reporters Without Borders, which campaigns for media freedom around the world has issued a freedom index according to which Finland tops the list of the countries with a free media, followed by two other Scandinavian countries – Norway and Denmark. Eritrea is at the bottom along with Turkmenistan and North Korea. China, Cuba, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan are also at the bottom. The United States dropped from 20 in 2010 to 49 in 2015, four steps above Haiti, Burkina Faso, Namibia and El Salvador. Suriname, Samoa and the eastern Caribbean rank higher than the United States.
More than 1,000 media practitioners and stake holders, including representatives of governments have called on UNESCO’s 195 Member States to “reaffirm that press freedom and the right to information are essential for a free, independent and pluralistic media and crucial to the advancement of human rights and sustainable development.”
In keeping with the new Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations for the next 15 years, the Finlandia Declaration stresses the importance of access to information and the responsibility of states in making public information available both on and off-line, and promoting universal access to the internet.
Pakistan is ranked 159 on the list of 180 countries. According to a report, the space for press freedom has been shrinking in Pakistan over the last few years. The report points out that last month, a Pakistani parliamentary committee approved a draconian law for controlling the Internet. Reporters Without Borders notes that the latest draft of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act “undermines civil liberties in Pakistan and flouts freedom of the media and information”. It also notes that the bill contains provisions that would allow the government to censor any content without referring to judge, to use overly broad criteria to criminalise many online activities, and to gain access to Internet user data without any judicial control.
During 2014, non-state actors also continued to target journalists. Two journalists were gunned down in October, bringing the number murdered since August to four. In July, unidentified gunmen torched a cable TV operator in Karachi. Also in July, unidentified people bombed the home of the Peshawar bureau chief of a Pakistani television channel.
In May and June, a journalist was attacked in Multan and trucks carrying newspapers were torched. In June, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority temporarily closed the transmission of a television channel in various areas.
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