Previous | Next :: Today is World Press Freedom Day : Pennsylvania : USA | May 4, 2009, 4:46 am

Today is World Press Freedom Day......... Lets remember today the over 60 journalists who have died bringing news and information to the world in the last year. Maybe try and think of journalists who are even now locked up in repressive countries for the practice of journalism. Lets face it....... The free flow of timely news and information is central to freedom and democracy. Repressive governments all over the world are busy intimidating and arresting journalists and bloggers to crush protest and knowledge of the truth. From Burma to Iran and Syria from North Korea to China and Russia journalists and bloggers are intimidated 'bumped off' and 'disappeared'. Hey...... Today lets not take for granted freedoms that we have in Western Nations......... maybe today we should try and recognize the privilege of having news and information delivered from many of different sources..... You know... Today we should take the time to be well informed........ And be grateful to those whose bravery and personal sacrifice gives us the insight and information that would remain hidden to us without their efforts.

Today especially we should to think of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, who has been sentenced to eight years in prison on trumped up charges of spying in Iran. She is now on hunger strike attempting to get justice and win her freedom.

And lets not forget the two American journalists employed by California-based Current TV, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who have been held in Pyongyang North Korea since 17 March and of whom almost nothing is known since their arrest.

Cheers Jez XXXXXX

PS........ The image above I made in a Chapel Service I photographed in Pennsylvania in the past week ....... it has nothing to do with press freedom....... but just felt kind of right ....... as anyway now I am not near my mega hard-drives full of previous material XXX