BELIZE CITY, Thurs. May 3, 2018– Today, May 3, is World Press Freedom Day, and various media organizations around the world are observing the day with special activities related to the so-called fourth estate of government. World Press Freedom Day was first celebrated in 1993, 25 years ago, when the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the day.
This year’s World Press Freedom Day featured a flagship celebration organized by UNESCO and the government of Ghana. The events marking the day are being celebrated in Ghana’s capital city, Accra, and country’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo, participated in the two-day event, which began yesterday, May 2.
World Press Freedom Day is being celebrated under the theme “Keeping Power in Check: Media, Justice and the Rule of Law.”
Apart from the celebration in Ghana, all around the world the day is being observed with special events.
In Belize, World Press Freedom Day was celebrated under the theme “Let Journalism Live.” Kendra Griffith was the coordinator for the event, which was held at the former residence of the late national hero, Hon. Philip Stanley Wilberforce Goldson, who began his public life as a journalist and editor of the Belize Billboard.
Goldson is among the few people in the history of colonial Belize to have been sentenced to serve time in prison for his journalistic work. He was sentenced to one year in prison on a charge of seditious intent.
Belize is reportedly ranked 47th out of 180 countries for press freedom by the Paris-based organization, Reporters Without Borders.