Save Journalism Project Celebrates World Press Freedom Day

WASHINGTON, DC – Every May 3rd, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) celebrates World Press Freedom Day as “a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom.” This year’s theme, “Information as a Public Good” not only reminds us of how the information journalists report on impacts global and social development, but also it highlights how important it is for governments to assure that the press have the freedom and resources to effectively do their job. 

The following is a statement from Laura Bassett, former Senior Politics Reporter for HuffPost who was laid off in January 2019, and co-founder of the Save Journalism Project:

“On World Press Freedom Day, not only do we recognize the importance of having a free and independent press, but also the need to make sure that the industry has enough resources to provide information to the public. As the past year has shown, the news industry is in a constant battle to stay afloat as Big Tech companies continue to get richer and gobble up all the advertising revenue. Today, we are reminded that press freedom is essential in assuring that the public is well informed and that our democracy functions as it was meant to do.”