This post is a summary of three articles. The first was published at https://www.un.org/en/events/pressfreedomday/. The second was published on May 1, 2019 at https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaochab/2019/05/01/for-the-world-press-freedom-day-and-beyond-defend-media-freedom/#6144a37d5b9e. The third was published in September 2018 at https://rsf.org/en/news/brazils-protection-human-rights-defenders-extended-journalists-0
The 26th celebration of World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) is jointly organized by UNESCO, the African Union Commission and the government of Ethiopia. This year's theme "Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation," discusses current challenges faced by media in elections, along with the media's potential in supporting reconciliation processes.
The theme for this year's "Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation." The concept note for the celebration states: "Today, the contribution of free, pluralistic, independent journalism to democracy is under unprecedent stress. Also, election outcomes and their aftermath are critically affected by political discourse and communications, including the role of the media in relation to the polling process. Many societies have falling trust in established political parties and in news outlets themselves. This is often accompanied by polarizing political discourse that theatens peaceful elections as well as press freedom." Ensuring the safety of journalists is the primary way by which we can foster the independence and freedom of the press, as crucial for democracy. Such a goal is also vital to ensure public access to information. And indeed the threat is real. According to the International Federation of Journalists, in 2018 alone, at least 94 journalists were killed. The most dangerous countries for journalists in 2018 were Afghanistan with 16 fatalities and Mexico with 11, Followed by Yemen with 9, Syria with 8 and India with 7. The data, presented by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), identifies slightly lower numbers of fatalities at 80. The RSF report further confirms that three journalists were reported missing, 60 held hostage and 348 detained. Despite the difference in figures, both agree that 2018 witnessed an increase in such fatalities and the level of threat to journalists. The serious threat to journalists' safety is characteristic of conflict areas. However, the mentioned reports feature many countries without reputations for active armed conflicts. Places like Mexico, U.S. or India. In the U.S. for example, four journalists employed by the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland were killed on June 28th, 2018, when a man walked in and opened fire. Recent years have shown that even strong and stable European countries do not escape violence against journalists. For example, in October 2017, Daphne Galizia, a Maltese journalist exposing government corruption by Maltese politicians was murdered in a car bomb attack. 19 months later, investigators are still no closer to expose those responsible for the act. In February 2018, Slovak investigative journalist Ján Kuciak, who had been investigating corruption allegations linking Slovak Businessman and politicians to Italian organized crime, was murdered alongside his fiancée Martina Kusnirova. Investigative journalism on the subject of corruption also calimed the life of Bulgarian journalist Victoria Marinova in October 2018. Aside from concerning fatality rates, it is crucial to emphasize the high numbers of journalists being detained because of their work. According to RSF, in 2017, more than half of the world's imprisoned journalists are being held in just five countries: China, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran. To respond to some of the identified challenges, only a few weeks before the World Press Freedom Day, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland launched a joint initiative "Defend Media Freedom" that aims to shine a spotlight on media abuse and address the trend of violence against journalists. On July 10-11, 2019, the U.K. and Canada will host the International Conference on Media Freedom to further the aims of the joint campaign. Another initiative that needs to be mentioned is TrialWatch launched by the Clooney Foundation for Justice in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Columbia Law School and Microsoft. Among others, the initiative will monitor trials of journalists around the world to ensurer that the judicial system is not used to silence journalists and curtail freedom of speech.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and other press freedom NGOs met this week in Brasilia with the staff of Brasil's mechanism for the protection of human rights defenders, which will now also be available to journalists in danger. RSF welcomes the decision to extend the range of those covered by the mechanism. It is intended to permanently reinforce the protection available to journalists and is fully justified by the violence to which many of them are exposed in Brazil. The protection provided by the mechanism, which was created in 2004 and is attached to the Ministry of Human Rights, was extended on 4 September 2018 to Comunicadores, a term that in Brazil covers not only staff journalists but also freelancers, non-professional journalists and bloggers. An expansiom of the mechanism's scope has long been one of RSF's main recommendations in Brazil and its realization now is the result of a rapprochement between the MDH and the press freedom groups in the National Human Rights Council. During the meeting in Brasilia on 10 September, RSF shared its experise, helped define the types of threats and the profile of victims, and assisted MDH staff, whose initial goal from now until the end of the year is to publicize the extension of the mechanism's protection. Exactly how it will be implemented and the criteria for determining who benefits in practice have yet to be determined.
