News organisations, journalists, and media support groups around the world are gearing up to commemorate the 2026 World News Day on September 28, with a campaign aimed at drawing attention to the importance of trusted, fact-based journalism at a time of growing information disorder and declining public confidence in information.
The 2026 campaign will run for one week, from September 25 to October 2, under the broad message that trusted journalism matters, and coincides with the International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI), which is also commemorated globally on September 28.
Organisers of the World News Day global campaign are encouraging newsrooms worldwide to use the occasion to demonstrate the value of their work and explain to audiences why credible journalism remains essential to democratic societies.
World News Day is an annual global awareness campaign that celebrates fact-based journalism, promotes media literacy, and recognises the role of independent and reliable news in keeping citizens informed. It is organised by a coalition involving the World Editors Forum (WEF) of the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), the Canadian Journalism Foundation, and Project Kontinuum.
The organisers noted that the campaign has grown steadily in recent years, as participation has expanded from about 800 publishers in 2024 to more than 1,000 publishers across 108 countries and 17 languages in 2025, reflecting growing international concern about the pressures confronting journalism and the need to defend trustworthy sources of information.
For the 2026 campaign, participating news organisations are expected to receive campaign materials in more than 20 languages, including digital and print advertisements, social media assets, video materials and editorial content, while newsrooms are also being encouraged to develop their own stories, podcasts, newsletters, and public events highlighting the importance and impact of journalism.
Although World News Day was not formally proclaimed by the United Nations (UN) or any inter-governmental body as an official international Day, it deliberately coincides with International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI) as a global awareness campaign initiated by journalism and media organisations. It was established as an industry-led global campaign.
The UN General Assembly, on the other hand, proclaimed September 28 as IDUAI in October 2019, following an earlier proclamation by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in November 2015.
The day is intended to promote awareness of the importance of access to information for democracy, development, equality, and informed public participation.
The convergence of the two commemorations highlights the close relationship between the public’s right to know and the ability of journalists to obtain, verify, and disseminate information in the public interest.
The organisers of World News Day have stressed that journalism and access to information are mutually reinforcing, as citizens need access to reliable information, while journalists require the freedom and ability to investigate, question authorities, and report independently.
The convergence of World News Day and the IDUAI on September 28 is expected to reinforce a common message that democracy depends not only on the availability of information, but also on the existence of independent, professional, and trusted journalism capable of helping citizens make sense of it.
This year’s IDUAI will have particular significance for Africa, with Sierra Leone hosting UNESCO’s global conference to commemorate the Day in an event that will take place from September 28 to 30, in Freetown, the country’s capital city, and will be held back-to-back with the 17th International Conference of Information Commissioners (ICIC 2026).
The 2026 IDUAI commemoration will focus on the theme: “Upholding Information Integrity in the Digital Age: The Role of Access to Information in Addressing Information Disorder.”
The conference is expected to explore how stronger access-to-information systems can contribute to information integrity by enabling citizens and journalists to obtain authoritative information, scrutinise public institutions, and challenge false or misleading claims.
As digital platforms and changing patterns of news consumption are transforming the business environment for journalism, while the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is raising new questions about the future of news production, copyright, misinformation, and public trust, the organisers of the World News Day campaign said it provides an opportunity for newsrooms to speak collectively about what goes into producing credible journalism and why audiences should value and support professional reporting.
Participating organisations are being encouraged to use the campaign to engage directly with their communities, explain their editorial processes, highlight the impact of their reporting, and promote greater public understanding of the distinction between verified journalism and unverified online content.
