Observance of World Press Freedom Day at the United Nations on 3 May was organized by the Department of Public Information (DPI), in cooperation with The Freedom Forum - an international non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to freedom of the press - and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

UN Photo/179549/M. Tzovaras

In an introductory statement, Kensaku Hogen, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, said World Press Freedom Day had been observed at the United Nations since 1993. This year, the panel discussion focussed on the topic "Turbulent Eras: Generational Perspectives on Freedom of the Press". Robert Giles, Senior Vice-President of The Freedom Forum and Executive Director of Media Studies Center, in his introductory remarks said: "We would like to think that every day is World Press Freedom Day." The reality was, however, different. The lists of journalists who had been jailed, beaten and killed was a sobering reminder that today's news reports depended on the courage of reporters and photographers who worked under the threat of violence and intimidation. Stephen Rosenfeld, Deputy Editorial Page Editor and columnist, The Washington Post, delivered the keynote address. Daljit Dhaliwal, anchor, World News for Public Television, moderated the panel discussion, noting that the United Nations establishment of World Press Freedom Day had yielded many prominent ideas on why it was important to have a free press.

Eugenie Aw, journalist, Partnership Africa Canada, said that to be a journalist in Africa in the early 1970s was to have the freedom to expand media coverage to present multiple voices. At one time, journalists in the region used to practise self-censorship. The United Nations had encouraged journalists to exercise freedom and present the truth. Women started taking a greater role, and many stories that were never presented before were suddenly in the media; they could finally talk about the violence from their husbands and political and economic issues. Twenty years ago, there were only a handful of radio stations in Africa; now there were more than 200. But repression and economic pressures remained. The new generation of journalists must ensure that all voices were heard to accelerate the creation of public opinion in Africa.

Anthony Lewis, columnist, The New York Times, said the press often acts as a warning sign for terrible events to come. When the press was suppressed, it meant other repression was bound to happen. Many tools were used to repress the media - money, imprisonment and death. People in power did not like to be criticized and it was natural for them to stifle the press if tradition and laws did not prevent it.

He said that tabloid zeal last year in the United States had encouraged a campaign to destroy the President. It seemed fantastic that Americans spent 13 months traumatized about such nonsense as the Monica Lewinsky situation. In contrast, it was crucial that there were brave committed journalists in Bosnia when Serbs were shelling the city. If they had not stayed despite the snipers, the world would not have known about what was happening, and nothing would have been done. In that regard, it would have been better if the Western press would have told what was happening in Rwanda and shame the world into acting. Maybe that was the role of the press - to shame the politicians. "I think we have to keep doing it", he said.

Susan Meiselas, photojournalist, Magnum Photos, said the key issue for photographers was to bear witness-to document and find evidence. Photos resisted erasure and remained part of the historic record. Foreign journalists had often not only been harassed, but pushed and beaten. The struggle was still to witness, and to see what "we have been forbidden to see".

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