The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will host 2024 World Press Freedom Day ceremonies in Santiago, Chile, from May 2 to 4, 2024. Celebrated every May 3, theme for this year is “A Press for the Planet: Journalism in the face of the Environmental Crisis” and focuses on the importance of journalism and freedom of expression in the context of the current global environmental crisis
The 31st edition of World Press Freedom Day aims to highlight the significant role played by the press, journalism, access, and dissemination of information to ensure and secure a sustainable future that respects the rights of individuals and their diversity of voices, as well as gender equality.
World Press Freedom Day 2024 is an important opportunity for the international community to collectively reflect on these multidimensional challenges, the fundamental role of journalism, and the transformative power that reliable information has to protect our planet, achieve sustainable development, and consolidate democracies.
Partners from the media, academia, and civil society will also organize events in Santiago and around the world centered on this year’s theme.
The Day will serve as a platform to bring together key actors and to reflect on the fundamental role of journalism and reliable information in protecting our planet, and discuss topics, including the importance of reliable and accurate information, especially that which denounces and investigates the environmental crisis and its effects.
The conference will touch on the following:
- The importance of reliable and accurate information, especially that which denounces and investigates the environmental crisis and its effects.
- Violence faced by journalists and communication workers when promoting sustainable development and environmental protection, encouraging a gender-responsive perspective that promotes non-sexist journalistic discourse.
- Support for the media to strengthen their institutional capacities to report on climate change and environmental crises, paying special attention to the viability of the media.
- Dis- and misinformation about environmental issues and its impact on public and political support for climate action, effective policies, and the protection of vulnerable communities affected by climate change.
- Use the occasion to recall the Santiago Declaration, which stresses the importance of respecting media pluralism and cultural, linguistic, and gender diversity as a fundamental factor of our democratic societies and which should be reflected in all media.
The role of other critical voices, such as scientists and artists, will also be discussed. The urgency of tackling the massive waves of dis and misinformation about the current global environmental crisis will occupy a prominent space in next year’s agenda.
World Press Freedom Day 2024 promises to be a pivotal moment for reflection, dialogue, and concerted action towards ensuring a press that is truly dedicated to safeguarding our planet and promoting a sustainable future for all.
