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About World Press Freedom Day
Also known as World Press Day, the World Press Freedom Day is an initiative by the United Nations General Assembly to make the public more aware of the freedom of press and also rightfully remind all the governments in the world to respect and abide by the ‘Freedom of Expression’ that is a part of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, under Article 19.
On this day, the UNESCO awards an individual or an organization or institution with the UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize, based on achievements that highlight exceptional and outstanding contribution in promoting press freedom in the world, especially if it has been achieved amidst a lot of risks and danger.
The ritual of this award on this day began from 1997 and the verdict was decided by an independent jury consisting of 14 different professionals belonging to the field of journalism.
This award is also known as the Guillermo Cano World Freedom Prize, which was named after Guillermo Cano Isaza, who was a Columbian journalist assassinated right in front of his own newspaper’s offices on the 17th of December 1986, in Bogota, Columbia.
This year this ceremony will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia, and it is being organized by UNESCO, the government of Indonesia, as well as the Press Council of Indonesia.
The day observes knowing more vividly about the achievements of media, respecting freedom of the press, defending the media against wrongful attacks, and also commemorating the achievements of those journalists who lost their lives in unfortunate situations while reporting a story.
This year too many media houses and publications on this day will feature in-depth reports, as well as interviews and stories, all focusing on certain aspects of press freedom.
Every news story that will be a part of this event doesn’t necessarily coincide with the beliefs and elements of the UNESCO, and in true means, depict freedom of the press, since they are every author’s own individual thoughts and liberty reflecting in their stories.