World Press Freedom Day: Honoring Media Professionals Around the World

On May 3, World Press Freedom Day, IREX salutes the thousands of journalists, editors, managers, photojournalists, publishers, and owners who make a difference every day around the world simply by practicing their profession and providing citizens with the information they need to participate in their societies. These professionals make the sacrifices to uphold the principles we all honor on World Press Freedom Day.  In 2006, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 56 journalists were killed, and many more were imprisoned, disappeared, or harassed simply for doing their jobs. Others advanced media freedoms despite poor pay and working conditions, government obstruction, and other daily obstacles.

The theme of this year’s World Press Freedom Day is press freedom, safety of journalists, and impunity. Most of the crimes against journalists go unsolved or are not even investigated, including, as reported by CPJ, 85% of journalists' murders. And yet journalists continue to struggle to unveil the corruption that condemns many countries to poverty, bring societal threats such as human trafficking to light, inform citizens of their political and economic rights, and empower citizens to participate in elections and in their local governments. IREX salutes these brave journalists, the organizations that support them around the world, and the governments and organizations that bring to light the importance of press freedom and journalists' safety. We hope that more will be done to protect journalists, to bring to justice those who murder or attack journalists, and to support the development of press freedom.

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