Marking World Press Freedom Day on May 3, CPJ’s CEO Jodie Ginsberg writes about the role press freedom plays in protecting democracies around the world.
“With half the world’s population casting ballots in elections this year, independent reporting on the candidates and the issues is essential,” said Ginsberg in an op-ed published by Project Syndicate. “Yet from Washington and Westminster to Buenos Aires and Budapest, efforts to intimidate, curtail, and constrain the free press are becoming more frequent and brazen.”
“Attacks on journalists harm us all,” noted Ginsberg. “Journalists perform the public’s due diligence on candidates, probing their professional records, the veracity of their claims, and the credibility of their promises. By reporting on policy achievements and failures, they help corroborate – or contradict – a candidate’s official narrative… Without such information, there can be no democracy.”
At the World Press Freedom Day Conference in Chile, CPJ joined 11 press freedom and journalistic organizations in adopting the Santiago +30 Declaration urging states to protect journalists and ensure they can work safely without restrictions.
With tensions over pro-Palestinian protests escalating on college campuses across the United States, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on university authorities and law enforcement agencies to allow reporters to freely cover the demonstrations.
“Journalists – including student journalists who have been thrust into a national spotlight to cover stories in their communities — must be allowed to cover campus protests without fearing for their safety,” said CPJ U.S., Canada and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen on Wednesday. “Any efforts by authorities to stop them doing their jobs have far-reaching repercussions on the public’s ability to be informed about current events.”
We defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.
Jam Saghir Ahmed Lar
Daily Khabrain, Pakistan
Zayd Abu Zayed
Quran Radio, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Myat Thu Tan
Western News, Myanmar
Mardonio Mejía
Sonora Estéreo, Colombia
Mardonio Mejía
Sonora Estéreo radio station, Colombia
Hamza Al Dahdouh
Al-Jazeera, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory