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WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY

WORLD’S  PRESS FREEDOM DAY:

  • Every year  3rd May is celebrated as the World’s Press freedom Day. 

  • UN General Assembly in December 1993, following the recommendation ofUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s  (UNESCO) General Conference declared 3rd May as world press freedom day, under the Declaration of Windhoek.

  • Aim: 

    • to remind the governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom. 

    • Further, It is a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics.

    • To support media who are targets for the restraint, or abolition, of press freedom

    • To remember and honour journalists who lost their lives to bring us stories.

INDIA AND FREEDOM OF PRESS:

  • Article 19 of the Constitution provides each citizen a Freedom of speech and expression. However, there are some reasonable restrictions on the freedom of speech and expression enjoyed by citizens which includes:

    • the sovereignty and integrity of India,

    • the security of the State,

    • friendly relations with foreign States, 

    • public order, decency or morality, 

    • in relation to contempt of court, 

    • defamation or incitement to an offence.

  • Constitutional Assembly debates on Freedom of Press: the freedom of press is not explicit in the constitution. When this question came in front of constituent assembly, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar replied by saying “ No special mention of freedom of press is required at all as the press and citizen/individual is same as far as the right to speech and expression is concerned” 

  • Supreme Court in Romesh Thapar Vs. State of Madras and  Brij Bhushan Vs. The State of Delhi, asserted that the right to freedom of the press was an essential part of the right to freedom of speech and expression.

WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY: News
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