The UN General Assembly proclaimed 3 May as World Press Freedom Day in 1993 as a means to celebrate the freedom of the press and to raise awareness of its importance in the world. The day also serves as a reminder to governments of their need to defend press freedom and protect journalists. Moreover, World Press Freedom Day is an occasion to evaluate the state of press freedom in the world, to make a stand for independent journalism and to commemorate the journalists who have lost their lives due to their commitment for a free press.
The date goes back to a UNESCO conference in Namibia in 1991 that ended on 3 May with the adoption of the Windhoek Declaration for the Development of a Free, Independent and Pluralistic Press. Thus, 2021 marks the 30-year anniversary of this declaration for free press principles, which is as relevant as back then – especially in times of misinformation being spread about the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, World Press Freedom Day 2021 is celebrated under the theme “Information as a public good” and aims to raise awareness for the fact that more and more local news media around the world face extinction. This is only worsened by the current pandemic situation.
So, on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day 2021 why not choose to make use of a tool that provides you not only with information, but also with the possibility to practise your interpreting skills? We recommend you have a look at the Speech Repository, where you can find 79 public speeches on Human Rights as well as specific speeches on press freedom, for example in French or English. And if you want to have an insight into press freedom in the EU, we also provide you with the latest press conferences of the College of Commissioners and the read-outs of the weekly Commission meetings with an interpretation into International Sign Language.
What are you waiting for? Let’s celebrate press freedom together by interpreting some speeches on this topic!
Your Speech Repository Team