May 3rd is World Freedom of Press Day, an event instituted in 1993 to “celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom; assess the state of press freedom throughout the world; defend the media from attacks on their independence, and pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty.”
The event is organised by Unesco and this year the theme is Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation. The main celebrations are being held in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Turkey saw the highest number of murders in 2019. Overall, a total of 95 journalists were killed since last year, higher than in 2017 but not as many as 155 in 2016, when the conflict against Iraq and Syria were intense.
The most prolific case which attracted global attention in 2018 was that of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. He was murdered in October last year after attending the Saudi consulate-general in Turkey.
Another case was Lyra McKee who was reporting on a riot that had broken out in Londonderry and died on the street while covering the story.
