World Press Freedom Day more relevant than ever

World Press Freedom Day came and went on May 3 with grim new statistics to tally. Russia’s incursion into Ukraine has resulted in the death of 12 journalists that we know of, with many more wounded during an invasion that has entered its third month.

Besides the dead and wounded journalists in Ukraine, those who once tried to provide the Russian people with objective news about the Putin regime and the war have been silenced as well. Reporters who refuse to parrot state propaganda have gone into exile or have simply stopped doing their jobs because telling the truth can result in being sentenced to years in prison for spreading “fake news.”

Few occupations are as deadly as journalism in huge swaths of the world, not just in Russia or Ukraine. One only needs to explore the website of the Committee to Protect Journalists to see how many reporters were killed in Mexico earlier this year or about the photojournalists and editors were found dead under mysterious circumstances in Haiti and Myanmar.

Here at the Post-Gazette editorial and opinion section, we are proud to be hosting an international journalism fellow who took on dangerous assignments in his home region of Punjab, India. Gagan Singh investigated corruption and other financial irregularities, upsetting the power players in northern India. But that’s what good journalism is all about. Keep watch for Mr. Singh’s byline in the coming weeks.

The assault on world press freedom takes many forms and aren’t limited to executions or imprisonment by autocratic regimes.

Suppressing inconvenient truths uncovered by journalists also happens in advanced democracies where duly elected demagogues and citizens with deep pockets attempt to intimidate or punish the free press with threats of litigation.

But despite it all, responsible outlets of news and information continue to strive to fulfill the mission of delivering accurate and timely information that democracies and democracy-adjacent governments require to operate in the world.

World Press Freedom Day sounds quixotic given today’s grim realities, but many of journalism’s greatest practitioners still believe in an ancient piece of advice: “The truth will set you free.”