May 03 is World Press Freedom Day. Established in 1993 by the United Nations General Assembly, World Press Freedom Day takes place annually on May 03 and celebrates the fundamental principles of press freedom.

World Press Freedom Day gives us an opportunity 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.

The theme of the 2012 Day is “New Voices: Media Freedom Helping to Transform Societies”.

One of the most important elements of the celebrations is the presentation of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2012. This prize honours the person, organisation or institution that has made a notable contribution to the defence and/or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world, particularly if this involved risk. The award is marked by a ceremony and the winner will be presented with an award of $25,000.

The World Press Freedom Day 2012 Conference will take place in Tunis, Tunisia from May 3-6. The event will include lectures, round table discussions and workshops. The subjects for discussion will include regulation and self-regulation of media space; journalism ethics in transitional situations; journalism 2.0 and democracy; the decriminalization of speech; and social media, amongst other topics.

Find out more about World Press Freedom Day here.