A conference to mark the 2019 world press freedom day has started here in Addis Ababa at the AU headquarters.
This year’s world press freedom day is marked with the theme, ““Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation.”
The 26th global celebration of World Press Freedom Day will be focused on the role of the media in elections and democracy.
National events will be organized all around the world to complement the main celebration of World Press Freedom Day taking place in Addis Ababa.
Every year, 3 May is a date when the world celebrates the fundamental principles of press freedom. The day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993 and mandated UNESCO to take lead. This in turn was a response to a call by African journalists who in 1991 produced the landmark Windhoek Declaration on media pluralism and independence.
The conference, which is to be conducted till tomorrow, is to focus on issues like How the digital era is affecting electoral communications Media’s role in democracy: Discrediting professional journalism, and disrupting Internet access; and Media’s potential to contribute to a culture of sustainable peace and democracy.
The global conference is co-hosted by the African Union Commission, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia with the support of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and in partnership with many other media stakeholders.