1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites

World Press Freedom Day

May 3, 2014

Journalists in Germany have called for greater rights and freedom from surveillance on the 2014 World Press Freedom Day. Meanwhile three Al Jazeera journalists held in Egypt were denied bail.

https://p.dw.com/p/1Bt9q
Magazines and newspapers of German publisher Axel Springer stand on display at the comapny's annual press conference, during which CEO Mathias Doepfner announced financial results for 2012 on March 6, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. Net profit fell by 4.7% and Doepfner emphasized the company's strong push into digital media. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Image: Getty Images

To coincide with World Press Freedom Day, on May 3, several German media associations highlighted their concerns and appealed to the federal government to address them.

The union of German journalists has called for a legally enforceable right of access to information, and a Federal Press Information Act, of which examples exist in some of Germany's 16 states. The Federation of German Newspaper Publishers (BDZV) says journalists and their sources need better protection.

"Free media requires informants who do not live in constant fear of being spied on, and journalists who can work without being monitored," said the BDZV General Manager, Dietmar Wolff.

May 3 has been recognized as World Press Freedom Day after a recommendation from UNESCO resulted in a declaration by the UN General Assembly, in December 1993. While remembering the journalists who die every year while working, it highlights the issues reporters face globally and is a reminder of the fundamentals of press freedom.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has said that 14 journalists have been killed so far this year, many in the crossfire of armed battle. Since 1992, more than 1,000 have been killed - almost one a week. According to UN figures, more than 450 journalists have been forced into exile since 2008, while over 200 were being held in prison in 2013.

Al Jazeera journalists denied bail

Over the past year, a number of high profile cases around the world have highlighted the restrictions of press freedom in many countries.

In Egypt, Al Jazeera journalists have been put on trial, in what has been described as a crackdown on dissent by Egypt's interim military-installed government.

The journalists, who are charged with being part of a terrorist organization and airing falsified footage, appeared in court on Saturday where they were denied bail.

A fourth Al Jazeera journalist, arrested separately, has been held without charges since August.

Communications monintored

Earlier this year, the Turkish government banned Twitter and YouTube, after they were used to spread audio recordings appearing to implement Prime Minister Erdogan and members of his inner circle in a corruption scandal. The country's constitutional court later overturned the ban on Twitter, ruling that it amounted to a breach of free speech.

The surveillance of electronic communications by secret services has also been in the spotlight. Secret documents from fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden described how, among other things, the US National Security Agency (NSA) obtained a court order to spy on Germany, while Britain's GCHQ intelligence agency infiltrated German internet firms.

The German Federation of Journalists say the revelations are evidence to suggest spy agencies are able to establish who is in contact with whom, describing the surveillance as the greatest threat to the freedom of the press in Germany.

In December, the media freedom watchdog Reporters without Borders noted a decrease in number of journalists killed across the world in the course of duty. But it said the toll was still high compared with previous years.

Turkish journalist honored

UNESCO's World Press Freedom Prize, also given on May 3, was awarded to Turkish investigative journalist Ahmet Sik. Sik spent some 13 months in prison after being accused of being a member in an armed underground group, because of a book he was researching.

"There is no doubt that there are many colleagues, both in Turkey and in other countries, who deserve [this award] more than I do, Sik said at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

"Some of them lost their lives; some of them lost their freedom."

jr, ccp/rc (AFP, dpa, epd)