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Authorities and journalists in Cameroon yesterday May 3, organised activities to commemorate the World Press Freedom Day under the theme, “21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers”. The theme seeks to affirm the fundamental principles of media freedom in the digital age, that is, the ability of citizens to voice their opinion, access and diversify independent information sources, 20 years after the original declaration was made in Windhoek, Namibia. As the world commemorated the 2011 World Press Freedom Day, the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General in a joint message said “violations of fundamental human rights cannot go unanswered. State authorities must do everything to counter impunity and to protect the safety of journalists. We will never forget the courage of journalists who paid with their lives for our right to know.”
The joint message further specifies that twenty years on, the media landscape has changed, but the objective of the UN remains the same: to promote freedom of expression as the foundation for human dignity and the cornerstone of democracy”. Although unprecedented opportunities for expression based on new technologies and media have come, new threats equally are arising. New measures to block, filter and censor information emerge every day. Challenges take different features, but the UN says they share the same face as violations of a fundamental human right.
Statistics indicated that over the last decade, more than 500 journalists lost their lives in the pursuit of their profession. Sixty killings were reported worldwide in 2010 alone. Every week more reports of journalists and bloggers suffer from intimidation and violence. Through the message, the UN assures of its dedication to ensuring that the Internet becomes a truly global public resource, to which all have access and where all voices are heard. This underlines the importance of quality content as well as action to defend the integrity and safety of online reporters.
