Message by UN Resident Coordinator Yeşim Oruç on World Press Freedom Day

AS DELIVERED

His Excellency, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana

Honourable Mark Phillips, Prime Minister of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana

Honourable Kwame McCoy, Minister with responsibility for Public Affairs within the Office of the Prime Minister

Hon. Wilfred Abrahams, M.P., Minister of Home Affairs, Information, and Public Affairs, Barbados

Director of Information Services, Suriname

Honourable Member of Cabinet

Nazima Raghubir, President of the Guyana Press Association

Members of the diplomatic corps,

Media representatives – editors, journalists, photographers, videographers

Private sector representatives,

Good morning to you all.

Every year, on World Press Freedom Day, we shine a light on the essential work of journalists and other media workers who seek transparency and accountability from those in power, often at great personal risk.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, many media workers have been at the frontlines, providing accurate, science-based reporting to inform decision-makers and to save lives. Journalists who cover climate change, biodiversity and pollution have brought global attention to this triple planetary crisis.

But the threats to the freedom of journalists and media workers are growing by the day. From global health to the climate crisis, corruption, and human rights abuses, journalists face increased politicization of their work and attempts to silence them from many sides.

Over the past 5 years, 85% of the world’s population have experienced a decline in press freedom in their country.  During the same period, 400 journalists have been killed while doing their job.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

These threats to the free exercise of journalism have been further exacerbated by the rise of new technologies.  

While new technologies allow us to access more news than ever before, they also expose us to disinformation and hate speech.  The digital sphere has provided new tools to those who wish to silence free expression. Digital attacks against journalists, especially women, are increasing.

It’s an issue so pressing that it has inspired the overall theme of the World Press Freedom Day 2022 entitled “Journalism under Digital Siege” and the global conference on the same which is convening in Uruguay as we meet here today.

I’d like to touch on two aspects, His Excellency, if you allow me, of this “Journalism under Digital Siege” concept.  

The first one is Safety of Journalists.

Massive online violence against journalists is a new trend, and one which disproportionately impacts women. These threats come not only from governments or criminal groups. They come from private lobbies, from members of the public who feel increasingly emboldened to launch slurs and attacks online.

More than seven out of ten women journalists experience online violence and a fifth reported having experienced off-line violence in connection with online threats. 

Surveillance and hacking also threaten journalism and journalists. Artificial intelligence and malware are used to track journalists’ movements and to troll them online. The growing sophistication and undetectability of mal - and spyware and their increasing use against journalists and human rights defenders, endanger free and independent journalism.

Unfortunately, laws in many countries do not protect journalists from these threats. And, in some cases, the legal framework actually increases the risk to them and in most countries defamation is still a criminal offence.   

I would like to think that journalists in Guyana have been generally safe as compared to their colleagues elsewhere in the world.  But we must not lightly take any threat, abuse, harassment or intimidation of journalists and media workers. Tolerating any such intimidation or harassment can escalate into situations that place journalists and press freedom at risk. In Guyana’s context, such risks are heightened during periods of national elections. For example, in 2020 the Guyana Press Association reported that some media workers were verbally abused based on the media outlet they represented or their ethnicity.

The second point I’d like to make is with respect to Media Viability and Public Trust. 

The very survival of professional news media is under threat from the rise of digital and social media. In the last five years, both news audiences and advertising revenues have migrated to internet platforms. Google and Meta/Facebook now soak up approximately half of the global digital advertising spending. Newspaper revenue has fallen by half.  Newsroom closures and job cuts created a significant vacuum in the information landscape, particularly as false content related to COVID-19 spread rapidly on multiple social media and other platforms, creating a further erosion of trust.

Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen,

United Nations urges and works with Governments to take policy actions to support the viability of independent news media while respecting the professional autonomy of journalists. From tax benefits to promotion of better business models, including for advertisements, there is much that Governments and media organizations can do to increase media viability.

With respect to public trust, Media and Information Literacy, MIL as we call it in the UN language, for increasing people’s ability to think critically and to click wisely is very critical. In the Caribbean, UNESCO, the United Nations [Educational, Scientific, and] Cultural Organization, works with policymakers, educators, [and] civil society in assisting Member States to formulate national media and information literacy policies and strategies.  And I understand that an action plan for the roll-out of curriculum in the Caribbean is being discussed in Uruguay today and tomorrow. This cannot be timelier as we lead into the World Education Summit this September.

The national theme for this year’s observance of World Press Freedom Day is ‘Partnerships in Communication for Development (C4D)’. It is so fitting as Guyana is going through a historical juncture in its development journey. There are enormous potentials before Guyana to translate its natural resource wealth into meaningful gains in the lives of people, in terms of education and health outcomes, in terms of livelihoods, jobs, incomes.

These potentials also call into focus the need to communicate for development or C4D as was introduced earlier. C4D is not a new concept. Indeed, I am proud to say that UN agencies, notably UNICEF, have actually pioneered in harnessing the power of communications for development.  I for one listen every morning to the Ministry of Health messages on the radio – mostly supported by UNICEF and the World Health Organization- on how to handle childcare during the pandemic or where to get my booster shot.  The UN in Guyana also supports public service announcements and communication activities for addressing vaccine hesitancy and for behavior change around gender-based violence. All of those are examples of C4D.

As Guyana advances in its dizzying speed of development, though, it is important more than ever to heed some of the principles of C4D that have informed the work of the United Nations. Of these principles I will highlight only two.

The first one is the use of data and evidence for transparency in planning and delivering of communication products and initiatives for development. The Sustainable Development Goals provide a globally agreed set of targets around which to frame such data and evidence for communications for development. I encourage everyone to use them and I avail of the capacities of the United Nations to support your efforts in using the SDG Goals [sic] and targets.

The other principle is applying rights-based participatory approaches. C4D is not a one-way communication.  It is more about hearing, it’s about listening to those who stand to benefit from development activities. It is about creating awareness of people’s own rights by empowering participation on social and political issues so that they can successfully advocate for changes and policies that would improve their well-being and living conditions. In short, communication for development is a two way or a multi-way conversation with transparency and human rights at its core. Without those principles, it risks sounding like something else.  

On World Press Freedom Day, as we honor the essential work of the media in speaking truth to power, I am heartened by the leadership that Guyana is putting behind these critical topics of safety of journalists, of media viability and trust and the power of communications towards the achievement of the sustainable development goals.

I am honoured to be part of these proceedings.

Thank you and happy World Press Freedom Day!