It’s a fact of life that we may not share the views of others about important issues.
It is a given that different people will have different views about what constitutes good news.
We will differ in our opinions about scenarios and events that happen around us.
There are events that will prick at the heartstrings.
They will tug at our emotional responses in different ways.
We all have our preferences, our likes, our dislikes and we value things differently.
Now throw in a group of people who have a calling to disseminate news of events that will allow people to make well informed decisions daily.
Today is a very special day for journalists.
Today is World Press Freedom Day.
Journalists are sometimes misunderstood in Fiji.
They also have families, they have feelings, bias, hopes and aspirations and they appreciate many things.
They have dreams and values. Journalists have loved ones who look up to them for advice, support and reassurance.
Many journalists have families of their own, children to support, nurture and watch over.
This is not a job for the faint hearted.
Faced with many obstacles, passion for the job keeps many in this career.
Some have been ridiculed, snubbed, and publicly humiliated, sometimes by State officials.
Many have left the profession for various reasons and there have been many instances when journalists have been acknowledged and appreciated.
This can be thankless work.
For every journalist on the frontline, there are just as many in the background, from the editors of various departments, subeditors in a newspaper, to the people behind the scenes working to get a radio or television program or web update ready for the masses.
There are the people in administration, finance, transport, advertising and marketing, and newspaper sellers, who all play an important role in the dissemination of information for the masses.
The role of the media is critical to ensure people are in a position to make well-informed decisions.
It is critical in holding power to account.
In her message for today, Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, said, at “a time when we are mired in worry and uncertainty because of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, free information is essential to helping us face, understand, think about and overcome this crisis”.
First, we must consider the vital importance of information in this situation: informing the public means giving everyone the means of combatting the illness by adopting appropriate practices.
This is why the Organization has teamed up with the rest of the United Nations family to fight the “infodemic” of rumours and disinformation which is exacerbating the pandemic and putting lives at risk.
“To help put an end to the problem, we have joined forces to promote two major social-media campaigns, Together for Facts, Science and Solidarity and Don’t Go Viral.
To bolster the effectiveness of these initiatives, UNESCO has also created a COVID-19 resource centre for the media.
This online platform aims to help journalists track false information regarding the pandemic and report on the crisis reliably and effectively, as encouraged by the theme of World Press Freedom Day 2020, “journalism without fear or favour”.
“This theme is a timely celebration of the work of those who stand up for freedom of information and for an independent press which examines and states the facts.
“In a world as profoundly interdependent as this crisis has shown ours to be, every threat to or attack on the diversity of the press, the freedom of the press and the safety of journalists concerns us all.
“This is why the United Nations system of organisations, together with new coalitions formed by media, governments, and actors from the spheres of the law, academia and civil society worldwide, is supporting journalists and their fight for independence and the truth. Today I wish to call for a redoubling of these efforts. At this crucial moment, and for our future, we need a free press, and journalists need to be able to count on all of us.”
We remember though, and accept there has to be a great sense of responsibility as well.
