From Unifor:
Unifor recognizes May 3, World Press Freedom Day, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993.
World Press Freedom Day is a reminder to governments of their commitment to press freedom and provides an opportunity to pay tribute to journalists and media workers who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
According to UNESCO, 20 journalists have already been killed this year, with Mexico, Palestine and the Ukraine listed as the most dangerous places to work as a journalist in 2025.
Reporters Without Borders, an international non-profit and non-governmental organization that focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information, has raised the alarm about declining press freedoms worldwide. It says that governments are shutting down media outlets, inciting violence, and failing to protect journalists.
According to Reporters Without Borders, “press freedom is defined as the ability of journalists as individuals and collectives to select, produce, and disseminate news in the public interest independent of political, economic, legal, and social interference and in the absence of threats to their physical and mental safety.”
The erosion of press freedom isn’t limited to the most challenged countries in the world. Here at home and near home, press freedom is under attack in a different way, raising the question:
Are we taking press freedom for granted in Canada?
The loss of press freedom and the decline of democracy aren’t always thought of as critical issues in Canada or the United States.
The ability of independent journalism to hold the powerful to account is what makes it the backbone of a healthy democracy.
The world is changing, and Canada is not insulated. A rising movement of right-wing extremism, led by Donald Trump and fueled by social media, has created a place where truth takes a backseat to misinformation, and where journalists, scientists and experts are actively discredited and targeted for abuse and harassment. It seems we now live in a post-truth world.
The systematic dismantling of trust in journalism and media starts simply with accusations of “fake news,” then turns to marginalizing media outlets. Governments and leaders limit access to information, deny access to events and refuse to answer questions. Instead, we receive a barrage of press releases, click-bait videos and social media posts directly from politicians, rather than have information analyzed and fact-checked through an inquisitive, skeptical, multi-sourced lens.
All this is happening at a time when Canadian media outlets are under extreme financial pressure, as a result of having two American digital giants monopolizing the advertising markets.
And the result is unreliable information running rampant on social media, making it much harder to discern truth from misinformation or propaganda.
Unifor supports the Canadian Press Freedom Project, which monitors press freedom violations in Canada and is modeled after the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The national union is creating a public awareness campaign to highlight the importance of getting news from reliable sources.
Unifor is supporting the Canadian News Industry Peer Support program, pairing journalists who need support with experienced journalists in the industry. This will supplement our Unifor Media Help is here website, a resource for journalists who are experiencing harassment and abuse in the line of duty.
Unifor continues to champion financial supports from government and the industry in the form of the Online News Act and the Online Streaming Act, which make big tech pay their fair share for the content they use and profit from.
We cannot stand idly by watching our press freedoms erode at the cost of our democracy. Many unstable, struggling and war-torn countries around the world look to Canada as a beacon of freedom and democracy.
We owe it to ourselves as Canadians, and to the rest of the global community, to do our utmost to protect press freedom at home and abroad.
-30-
Recent Comments