On the United Nations' World Press Freedom Day, I'm reflecting on the critical importance of strong journalism. If you promote a free press in a country, you are not just helping keep journalists safe, and you're not even just helping Democratic ideals flourish. You're helping to fight corruption and authoritarianism, which affect poverty, misinformation, the environment, and the health, education, safety, and freedom of citizens.
You are probably aware of the plight of American Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershokovich, who is in a Russian prison for writing the truth about Russia. But there are 19 other journalists known to be imprisoned in Russia. And these are the journalists who haven't been killed.
Read The Washington Post on World Press Freedom Day.
The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that as of December 2022, 363 reporters were deprived of their freedom, a new global high in their tracking. The year's top five jailers of journalists: Iran, China, Myanmar, Turkey, and Belarus.
Here is a video from France 24 (in English) about the World Press Freedom Index rankings of countries from Reporters Without Borders. They report that the United States has fallen in the rankings due to the intimidation of journalists, particularly under the Trump administration.
