About Us

May 3 each year has been officially designated by the United Nations General Assembly as World Press Freedom Day.

All around the world on this day, supporters of media freedom celebrate the fundamental principles of press and media freedom that are articulated in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

From the Pacific Islands to Europe, from the continent of Africa to the countries of Asia, from the Americas to the United Kingdom, media workers and their supporters hold a myriad of events to celebrate the Day.

And the key global World Press Freedom Day event held each year is the World Press Freedom Day conference, which is hosted by a different country every year.

The very first World Press Freedom Day global conference was held in 1997 in Bilbao, Spain.

Since then, conferences have been held in Latin America (Colombia), South Asia (Sri Lanka); Europe (Switzerland and Serbia), Africa (Namibia, Mozambique and Senegal); the Middle East (Dohar), the Caribbean (Jamaica), the United Kingdom (London), and South-East Asia (The Philippines).

For a full list of previous events see UNESCO

World Press Freedom Day provides an opportunity to defend journalists and media organisations from attacks on their independence; to evaluate the state of press freedom around the world; and to pay tribute to those brave journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession.

World Press Freedom Day also serves as an occasion to alert citizens to violations of press freedom. It provides a reminder that in dozens of countries around the world, publications are being censored, fined, suspended and closed down, while journalists, editors and publishers are being harassed, attacked, detained and even murdered.

The occasion also reminds governments of the need to respect press freedom, and is a day of solemn reflection for media professionals on issues of press freedom and professional ethics. Just as importantly, World Press Freedom Day is a day of support for those media organisations which are the targets of systematic abuse, suppression or discrimination when carrying out their democratic role.

The path to Brisbane

Bringing the global World Press Freedom Day conference to Australia, to the capital city of Queensland, and to The University of Queensland has been a long-time dream of the conference Convenor, Associate Professor Martin Hadlow.

Now at the University of Queensland’s School of Journalism and Communication, A/Professor Hadlow is a former Head of Communications at UNESCO and a former Director of the University’s Centre for Communication for Social Change.

A/Professor Hadlow saw the connection between World Press Freedom Day, UNESCO’s admirable commitment to a free press and media, and the University of Queensland’s  progressive work in the area of journalism and communication.

The World Press Freedom Day global conference had never before been celebrated in the Pacific region, and that gave A/Professor Hadlow and the School even more incentive to apply to host the event in 2010.

The School’s submission was convincing, and gained the strong support of UNESCO’s senior officers in Paris. As they say, the rest is history.