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Read, Debate: Engage.
| topic: | Freedom of Expression |
|---|---|
| located: | Cameroon, Mozambique, Saudi Arabia |
| editor: | Bob Koigi |
In a world of information overload, misinformation, fake news and propaganda, truth remains the biggest casualty - a reality we have had to contend with as governments and corporations bend and twist it to serve their interests.
Yet for tens of thousands of journalists the world over who have embraced the vocation of defending that truth for public good, the price has been high. From confronting death at epicenters of conflicts in the Middle East, to enduring torture and detention without trial by dictatorial regimes in Africa, members of the press have remained unfazed in their pursuit to educate, inform, engage and communicate.
It has been especially a tough environment for members of the fourth estate in the COVID-19 era. Besides putting their lives at risk to keep the world updated on the devastating impacts of the pandemic, they have had to contend with governments that are using the pandemic to manage and control access to information that the public desperately need.
According to the 2021 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, at the moment journalism is totally blocked or seriously impeded in 73 nations. Some governments have punished journalists for reporting pandemic figures that are contrary to the ‘official figures’ as authorities try to cover up the true situation on the ground.
In other instances, governments have totally banned media from reporting on the pandemic and jailed others for exposing scandals related to theft of COVID-19 supplies.
Yet now more than ever, the public has the right to factual, credible and timely information and journalism, in the words of the Press Freedom Index, is the vaccine against disinformation.
As the world marks Press Freedom Day today, the clarion call is for the international community to step up campaigns advocating for the respect of the rights of journalists and access to information while holding the media to account on the highest degree of professionalism and ethics.
To quote Audrey Azoulay the Director-General of UNESCO: "The theme of this year’s World Press Freedom Day ‘Information as a Public Good’, underlines the indisputable importance of verified and reliable information. It calls attention to the essential role of free and professional journalists in producing and disseminating this information, by tackling misinformation and other harmful content."
Image: Esther Vargas.
