World Press Freedom Day 2025: May 3 is celebrated every year as World Press Independence Day. This day is dedicated to honor the role of journalists in bringing out media freedom, values of journalism and truth. On this day, journalists all over the world are honored who put their lives at risk and convey the truth to the public.
The purpose of this day is not only to highlight the role of media, but also to tell that fair and independent journalism is the backbone of democracy. This year's theme is – 'Reporting in Brave New World: Press Freedom and Artificial Intelligence on Media', which at the present time indicates technical changes in the field of journalism.
World Press Independence Day began in 1991 when UNESCO proposed to celebrate a special day to support the freedom of the press. Subsequently, the United Nations General Assembly recognized May 3, 1993 as World Press Independence Day. This date is reminiscent of the Window Declaration announced in 1991, in which independent and fair media was considered extremely necessary for democracy.
This day works to increase awareness to protect the media and keep it independent. It is a symbol of international solidarity to maintain journalists' safety, independent expression and media credibility. Also, it gives journalists a chance to think about the challenges that they face in their profession every day.
This year, the theme announced by UNESCO focuses on the influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in journalism. With the help of AI, tasks like reporting, fact checking, content creation and data analysis have become much faster and multilingual than ever.
But there are also risks with this, fake news, deepfac videos and wrong information can be easily spread through AI. Apart from this, AI is also affecting the income of media institutions, which can challenge the existence of journalism.
The World Press provides a platform to promote dialogue between journalists and common people. This is an opportunity to remember the role of journalists in defense of democracy and discuss measures to provide security to them.
On this occasion, we remember all those journalists who stated their lives for truth. By sharing this day with inspiring messages and quotes, we can identify and support the strength of independent media.
