World Press Freedom Day on Sunday is a time to highlight the importance of freedom of the press

Sunday is World Press Freedom Day. Proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993, World Press Freedom Day "celebrates the fundamental principles of press freedom; to evaluate press freedom around the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession," says the World Press Freedom Day website.

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

"It is a date to encourage and develop initiatives in favor of press freedom and to assess the state of press freedom worldwide. It serves as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom and is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics. Just as importantly, World Press Freedom Day is a day of support for media which are targets for the restraint, or abolition, of press freedom. It is also a day of remembrance for those journalists who lost their lives in the exercise of their profession."