World Press Freedom Day is meant to be a reminder to everyone that commitment to press freedom and professional ethics in media are important segments in human society.
Governments are reminded to respect the freedom of the Press in highlighting true facts and valuable critique. The media world is reminded to uphold professional ethics.
In 1991 Some African journalists authored Windhoek Declaration in a statement calling for free press principles. The UN followed it up by its decision to make it a universal principle. The UN General Assembly in 1993 declared 03 May to be the Press Freedom Day.
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is as follows: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
More was to follow. The Alma Ata Declaration of central Asia, Sana’a Declaration of the Middle East, and the Santiago Declaration of Latin American and Caribbean countries were on similar lines.
It is a global concern that, in the face of growing authoritarianism, politico-religious fundamentalism, and dictatorial governments, press freedom can be made fragile and manipulated. Arm-twisting methods by authoritarian governments and suppression of freedom of speech can play havoc. There are instances where media personnel are being characterised as lapdogs crawling on all fours and lapping up crumbs thrown by governments that do not respect even the rule of law.
There is the need for ethical principles and values to be upheld by the Press and all media channels. Spreading canards and rumours needs to be condemned. Media is the fourth pillar of democracy and should act as a fair, just and impartial agent of the citizenry to sift fact from fiction, to highlight truth and offer critical observation of the other three pillars of democracy, namely the Legislative, the Executive and the Judiciary.
“Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy.” (Walter Cronkite)