On World Press Freedom Day 2021, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the #HoldTheLine coalition have launched an innovative campaign of solidarity with journalist Maria Ressa, who faces a possible lifetime in prison in the Philippines. A new website (www.holdthelineformariaressa.com) features hundreds of videos from prominent supporters around the world - with a call for public contributions - that will stream on a continuous loop until all charges are dropped against Ressa and the media outlet Rappler.
In an unprecedented coordinated campaign action launched by RSF and the #HoldTheLine coalition, hundreds of supporters have submitted videos in support of Maria Ressa, the founder and CEO of online media outlet Rappler, whose courageous journalism and stand for press freedom in the Philippines earned her a spot as
Monday 3 May 2021
Paris - Insidiously, the coronavirus is attacking journalism’s vital functions. Since the beginning of 2020, journalists’ daily work has been transformed as countless events have been cancelled or access to them has been limited or curtailed and press conferences have turned virtual. Though understandable on health grounds, the restrictions have turned the practising of our profession upside-down.
A feeling has crept in among journalists that these restrictions are sometimes being applied excessively and used as a pretext to keep the media at a distance. Today, as we mark
World Press Freedom Day, we face this worrying question: Will we ever regain the full level of access to cover events that we had before the pandemic? Will freedom and plurality of information also fall victim to Covid-19 - and at a time when, amid a wave of coronavirus-related misinformation, there has never been such a vital need for quality journalism?
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“SOMETIMES I think they just wanted to scare me, but then I think maybe they wanted me dead,” says Bisma , a journalist well known for her progressive views. It was one evening in February 2019 when several shots were fired right outside her house. She has never spoken about the incident to anyone except her immediate family, her boss and the head of the media company she works for all of whom believe it was due to her reporting.
It had been a year since Bisma had done a particular story and started getting threatening calls telling her to “watch out”, the tone in each subsequent call turning more aggressive. “I never thought they would show up at my doorstep,” she says. Fearing further repercussions, she kept quiet, and has since then drastically cut down her social media presence. “The message was pretty clear.”
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