UN raises the alarm over diminishing global press freedom

Press freedom is under attack in every corner of the world, the United Nations chief said Tuesday, denouncing the targeting of journalists and the spread of disinformation.

 

Speaking ahead of World Press Freedom Day on Wednesday, Antonio Guterres issued a rallying cry for journalists and media worldwide.

 

“All our freedom depends on press freedom,”he said in a video message, calling it the “foundation of democracy and justice” and the “lifeblood of human rights.”

 

“But in every corner of the world, freedom of the press is under attack,” the UN secretary-general added.

 

Journalists are being targeted both on and offline, he warned. “They are routinely harassed, intimidated, detained, and imprisoned.”

 

Not to mention those who are simply killed. According to Reporters Without Borders, 55 journalists and four media workers were killed in the line of duty in 2022.

 

Guterres also lamented the concentration of the media industry into the hands of a few powerful players, and the collapse of independent media.

 

“Truth is threatened by disinformation and hate speech, seeking to blur the lines between fact and fiction, between science and conspiracy,” he said.

 

He was not alone in his concerns, with the head of UNESCO, which is organizing an event at the United Nations in New York to mark the occasion on Wednesday, also speaking out.

 

Audrey Azoulay said the digital age was changing the entire information landscape — making “professional, free, independent journalism” more necessary than ever.

 

She said harassment and intimidation of journalists was “unacceptable.”

 

“Beyond their personal situation, it is the service they provide to society as a whole that is at stake,” Azoulay said.

 

New York Times managing editor Arthur Sulzberger called attention to Evan Gershkovich, an American journalist for The Wall Street Journal who is being held in Russia on espionage charges he denies.

 

He “remains in Russian custody for sham charges and should be released,” Sulzberger said.

 

Over 334,000 have fled homes over Sudan crisis – UN

 

Meanwhile,  United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has estimated that more than 800,000 people could potentially flee to neighbouring countries as the conflict continues in Sudan between the army and a paramilitary group.

 

“Over 100,000 refugees are estimated to be among those who have now fled Sudan to neighbouring countries, including Sudanese refugees, South Sudanese returning home prematurely, and others who were themselves refugees in Sudan,” UNHCR spokeswoman Olga Sarrado told reporters in Geneva.

 

Also, the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) said an estimated 334,000 people had been internally displaced by the fighting in Sudan, which broke out on April 15.

 

The IOM said in a situation report that “the total estimate of displaced individuals across Sudan has reached 334,053.

 

“About 72 per cent, roughly 240,000 of these new internal displacements were reported in West and South Darfur alone,” spokesman Paul Dillon told reporters.

 

The number of people displaced in the last two weeks “exceeds all conflict-related displacement in Sudan in 2022,” he added.

 

Meanwhile, the UN said its 2023 aid appeals for Sudan were $1.5 billion short and only 14 percent funded.

 

“The $1.75 billion joint appeal for Sudan in 2023 is only 14 per cent funded.

 

In other words … (it is) facing a funding gap of $1.5 billion,” said Jens Laerke, the UN humanitarian agency’s spokesman.

 

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