Special Issue – World Press Freedom Day 2017

Jay OwenGlobal Citizen, Wealth of Networks

 
 IPS presents a special series of articles to mark World Press Freedom Day on 3 May 2017
FEATURED VIDEO: World Press Freedom Day 2017 IPS World Desk

Journalists are not only major users of the cherished right to freedom of expression but also symbols of the extent to which a society tolerates and promotes freedom of expression. The current state of safety of journalists worldwide is alarming. Over the last decade 827 journalists and media … MORE > >

IPS Journalists Who Perished in the Line of Duty Thalif Deen

In the politically-risky world of professional journalism, news reporters are fast becoming an endangered species. The numbers are staggering: some 1,236 journalists have been killed since 1992, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). In 2016 alone, 48 … MORE > >

Repression 2.0: An Updated Global Censorship Tharanga Yakupitiyage

Censorship tactics have become more complex, posing new challenges for journalists and non-journalists alike, a new report finds. In its annual “Attacks on the Press” report, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has documented a range of censorship cases from around the world and … MORE > >

Trolling of Women Journalists Threatens Free Press Manipadma Jena

“It’s not what you say that prompts it-it’s the fact that you are saying it,” says Mary Beard, a Cambridge University classics professor about online trolling. “If you venture into traditional male territory, the abuse comes anyway. It is the many ways that men have silenced outspoken women since … MORE > >

‘Fake News’ is not Journalism… Irina Bokova

Would you trust your news from any source? How are we able to ensure that ‘fake'(d) news does not overtake the flow of information? Journalism plays a vital role for society, bringing verifiable news and informed comment to the public. Every day, the news provides a basis for dialogue and … MORE > >

Worrying about Fake News Has Become All the Rage Farhana Haque Rahman, Director General, Inter Press Service

Rogue interests, perhaps even foreign, are said to be trying to interfere with the electoral process in the U.S. and European Union members. Senior government officials glibly endorse what they themselves call “alternative facts” and even openly describe the media as their enemy. … MORE > >

Protection of Journalists Fails in Latin America Daniela Pastrana

Mexican journalist Cecilio Pineda Brito covered drug trafficking issues in a region of the southern state of Guerrero where criminal groups are extremely powerful. In September 2015 he survived an attempt on his life, and because he was deemed at “very high risk” he became a beneficiary of the … MORE > >

Video message by UN Secretary-General António on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day 2017 UNESCO

Video message by UN Secretary-General António on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day 2017 MORE > >

Double standards: Do all journalist lives matter? Shafik Mandhai – Al Jazeera

Taha avoids giving his last name to journalists, but not out fear of the Sudanese government, whose harassment he fled in 2015. “I don’t want any of the people I worked with to know I’m here,” he tells Al Jazeera, writing by instant messaging from a temporary residence for refugees in the … MORE > >

With an Eye on Electoral Violence, Kenya Keeps Tight Rein on Media Justus Wanzala

As the clock ticks down to Kenya’s general elections slated for Aug. 8, a move by the Kenya Communication Authority (CAK) to make journalists adhere to guidelines on election coverage has elicited fear that the government could be trying to control how they report on the polls. The rules, … MORE > >