World Press Day honors journalists around the globe

World Press Day, or World Press Freedom Day, is not a holiday, but a global observance held on Sunday, May 3. This global observance was founded by the General Assembly of the United Nations in December of 1993 and has been recognized every year since then. The first World Press Day was celebrated as an outgrowth of the Seminar on Promoting an Independent and Pultristic African Press.

World Press Freedom Day informs the international community that freedom of the press and freedom of expression are fundamental human rights. This day reminds people that many journalists brave death or face jail to bring daily news to the public.

The observance of this day is important because it gives people the chance to pay tribute to media professionals who risked or lost their lives in the line of duty because people in power have tried to control and silence the press. From 1992 to 2016, 911 journalists were killed in their line of duty, and in 2015, 199 journalists were jailed while trying to bring news to the world.

People take part in this global observance through various events such as art exhibitions, dinners featuring keynote speakers, and awards nights to honor those who risked their lives to bring news to the world. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) hosts an annual conference, usually at the end of April, where they give an award to a deserving journalist. That award is named in honor of a Colombian journalist, Guillermo Cano Isaza, who was assassinated in front of the El Espectator newspaper offices in Bogotá in 1986 because his writings had offended the country’s drug barons. This year’s conference, whose theme is Journalism without Fear or Favour, will be held in October, due to COVID-19, pairing World Press Freedom Day (May 3) celebrations with the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists celebrations (November 2). The event will take place at The Hague in the Netherlands.