WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2022: JOURNALISM UNDER DIGITAL SIEGE: KNOW WHY IS THE DAY OBSERVED
Bhubaneswar (The Quiver): In changing times digital media became most popular among users because no one has time to sit infornt of Tv and read newspaper or listen to radio . So our dependence has increased upon the closest available means of communication and entertainment source which is now social media. We can peep into our social media platforms being at any place at any point of time. But this digital E-media has turned more into a curse than blessings. Many rumors , unfiltered , fake news circulate through this social media easily by misusers. As a result of which quality journalism is polluted and people have lost their faith on journalism. Many times also we realize that freedom of press is suppressed due to the influence of superior powers . Many times the journalists are physically attacked for covering the true events and communicating it to the public.
WHY WORLD PRESS DAY IS CELEBRATED?
World Press Freedom Day is observed every year on May 3 to spread awareness about the importance , freedom of the press and remind governments to respect the right to freedom of expression and to make press free from political and other influence. Introduced by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in December 1993, this day also pays tribute to the journalists who lost their lives.
World Press Freedom Day 2022: History
The UNGA, in December 1993, proclaimed this day after a recommendation adopted at the 26th session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 1991. The Windhoek Declaration was adopted on this day as well. It is a statement of press freedom principles by African newspaper journalists in 1991.
THEME OF WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2022
According to the United Nations, the theme will focus on the several ways in which journalism is endangered by surveillance and digitally-mediated attacks on journalists,and the consequences of all this on public trust in digital communications. The UN also mentioned that the surveillance can uncover information collected by journalists including from whistle-blowers and can harm the journalists’safety.
