World Press Freedom Day celebrated May 3

ABOUT WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY

Celebrated each year on May 3, World Press Freedom Day is a day to stand up for freedom of expression in all media: print, broadcast and online. It’s about the freedom to publish to an audience, and freedom to receive information as well. Freedom of expression is especially important for doing journalism, which generates public interest information, but it is also the right of of everyone. This year’s event places attention on freedom of expression on the Internet as a precondition for digital safety of Netizens in general and journalists in particular. This is a pressing issue for press freedom. In the past 10 years:

Only 1 in 10 cases of crimes against social media producers, journalists, and media workers has led to a conviction.

600+ journalists, social media producers and media workers have been killed while reporting news to the general public

As you read this very post, you’re exercising your human right to freedom of expression – to think, learn, find info & share. Freedom of expression applies to all media, such as your Facebook, your blog, your Youtube, your Twitter, your Vkontakte, or your Tencent. Many people don’t know that they should be free and safe to blog, to upload pics, to watch online video – in short, to use social media! Help us raise awareness about protecting this vital human right!

3 EASY STEPS TO HELP RAISE AWARENESS

• Send us a photo of yourself holding up your message. Tell the world that you are “Free to blog”, “Free to upload pics”, “Free to watch online video”, “Safe to use social media” You decide the message!
• Put the photo in a square format
• Email the photo to social_en(at)unesco.org

The email subject line should be, “My photo submission for the Safe to Speak campaign”

Terms of use: By submitting your photo, you hereby give UNESCO permission to use it in our campaign, both online and offline. We will not pass it on or use it for any other purpose.

WHERE YOU WILL APPEAR

Selected photos will be stitched together into a giant mosaic to use, on UNESCO’s social media channels, as our official Twitter wallpaper and Facebook/G+ covers. They will be also added to other social media channels where appropriate.
They will be projected onto a wall at our World Press Freedom Day launch event in Costa Rica.

RESOURCES

Find out more about World Press Freedom Day 2013

Press enquiries

BANGKOK: Lucia Pérez Sanagustín, lp.sanagustin(at)unesco.org
BRASILIA: Ana Lucia Guimaraes, AnaG(at)unesco.org.br
COSTA RICA: Karen Llach, k.llach(at)unesco.org
PARIS:Roni Amelan, English editor R.Amelan(at)unesco.org
Lucia Iglesias, Spanish editor: L.Iglesias(at)unesco.org

Countdown to World Press Freedom Day

To celebrate 20 years of World Press Freedom Day, UNESCO asked 20 journalists, bloggers and media experts from around the world to answer three fundamental questions about the past, present and future of press freedom:

• What are the biggest changes in press freedom in the last 20 years?
• What are the biggest challenges to safety of journalists today?
• What will be the big issues in press freedom in the next 10 to 20 years?

Follow the countdown to 3 May as a new video is released every day. HERE

“Women journalists are also becoming a target”