Press Freedom and the Safety of Journalists

A free press lets citizens learn what their government is doing, which is why the safety of journalists is treated as a human rights issue in its own right. Threats come in many forms: killings, imprisonment, lawsuits designed to drain resources, surveillance, online harassment and economic pressure on media owners.

Research by UNESCO and press-freedom groups shows that most journalists killed are local reporters covering corruption, crime or politics in their own countries, not foreign war correspondents, and that most killings never lead to a conviction. This impunity encourages further attacks.

International responses include World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, which grew out of the 1991 Windhoek Declaration by African journalists, and a UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists adopted in 2012. In 2021 the Nobel Peace Prize went to two journalists, Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia, for 'efforts to safeguard freedom of expression'.