May 3 is celebrated as "World Press Freedom Day,” every year. The day is celebrated to highlight and emphasize the ideal idea of a free and independent press, and it is also marked to pay tribute to the journalists who risk their lives while reporting in war-torn regions.
Various events, shows, and campaigns are generally hosted on this day to raise awareness regarding the importance of freedom of the press. Along with this, Reporters Without Borders, which is abbreviated as RSF, publishes a World Press Freedom Index every day - which ranks countries on the basis of press freedom.
Notably, India’s rank has risen to 151 from 180 countries, which earlier was 159 and 161 in 2024 and 2023, respectively. This position surely shows a sign of improvement but it also highlights the need to enhance the freedom levels of media in the nation, which is considered to be the largest democracy in the world.
The theme for 2025 World Press Freedom Day -
This year, with rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and AI content-generating tools, like ChatGPT, the theme of the day was "Reporting in the Brave New World – The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Press Freedom and the Media.”
Accordingly, this theme focused on the interference of AI in daily reporting and how AI is changing the nature of reporting or journalism.
Global Observance and Events on World Press Freedom Day 2025 -
Generally, on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, many institutions organize conferences, panel discussions, and other social media activities. During these activities, the contributions of many journalists are remembered, and the importance of freedom is raised. The presentation of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize also took place.
Quotes related to World Press Freedom Day -
1.
"Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy."
— Walter Cronkite
2.
"The liberty of the press is essential to the security of the state."
— John Adams
3.
"Journalism is printing what someone else does not want to be printed; everything else is public relations."
— George Orwell
4.
"Without freedom of the press, there can be no representative government."
— Charles Maurice de Talleyrand
5.
"The press was to serve the governed, not the governors."
— US Supreme Court (New York Times Co. v. United States, 1971)
6.
"A free press can be good or bad, but, most certainly, without freedom a press will never be anything but bad."
— Albert Camus
7.
"Information is the currency of democracy."
— Thomas Jefferson
8.
"Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech."
— Benjamin Franklin
9.
"The freedom of the press should be inviolate."
— John Quincy Adams
10.
"Censorship is the enemy of truth, even more than a lie."
— Bell Hooks