World Press Freedom Day 2012

World Press Freedom Day, 3 May, is an occasion to celebrate the principles of press freedom while honouring the journalists who struggle to uphold their independence

Although the past year has seen improvements in press freedom worldwide, the total number of people with access to a free press is at its lowest point in a decade.

Attacks and harassment

This is partly due to deterioration in press freedom in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In Ukraine and Azerbaijan, independent journalists are facing increasingly hostile working environments.

In Azerbaijan alone, upwards of a dozen journalists have in the past year been physically attacked or harassed. In the past six months, the country has seen one journalist killed and seven imprisoned.

Media crucial for democratic development

In the Middle East and North Africa, press freedom took a slight turn for the better in the past year.

Especially Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia emerged from the past year’s uprisings with an overall improvement in the level of press freedom. In Tunisia, past strict censorship rules have been largely abandoned and opposition media previously in exile have been able to return. And in Egypt, the rise of alternative and online media have given the country’s youth a new and creative way of expression.

But the media environments are still tenuous.

Media legal reforms are still waiting to be implemented in Tunisia and the initial surge in new media outlets after the fall of Gadaffi in Libya has come to a halt with publications and newspapers closing down one by one due to a lack of funds.

Syria and Bahrain have also yet to see much freedom in benefit of their respective uprisings. So far, calls for democratic change in these two countries have been met with harsh crackdowns on both protesters and independent media.

– While the recently opened media environments in countries like Egypt, Libya and Tunisia are still frail, they are critical for the future of democratic development in the countries, says Michael Irving Jensen, Head of the Middle East and Northern Africa department at International Media Support (IMS).

– The media’s role is to watch over the newly elected politicians and make sure they deliver on their promises. At the same time they must also provide a space for democratic deliberation and the free expression of their citizens, he adds.

Transforming societies through media freedom

Under this year’s global theme of “Media Freedom Helping to Transform Societies”, IMS marks the World Press Freedom Day 2012 in Tunisia, Iraq and Azerbaijan.

In Tunisia a wealth of international organisations and media professionals are brought together to engage in discussions on ethics in journalism; innovative ways of gathering and sharing media content; safety of media workers; and how commercial media markets are affected when a country emerges toward democracy from repressive rule. Read more about the event in Tunis here.

In Iraq, IMS has been the instigator of the country’s first ever Social Media Network which connects bloggers in the country’s north and south. On World Press Freedom Day, IMS together with international and local media organisations are organising a series of lectures and events, focusing on online media and the increasing hostile situation for bloggers and online journalists. Read more about the event in Baghdad here.

In Azerbaijan, the IMS-supported Institute for Reporters Freedom and Safety is marking the day by convening a range of media professionals and international representatives to discuss safety of the press and the safeguarding of press freedom in the country. Read more about the situation in Azerbaijan here.

World Press Freedom is marked every year on 3 May to celebrate the principles of a free and independent press and to pay tribute to the journalists who are attacked, harassed, imprisoned, torture and even killed for doing their job.