PMI Managing Director Dillon Case participated in the United Nations panel discussion commemorating World Press Freedom Day in New York on 5th May 2016.
The event, jointly hosted by the UN Department of Public Information and UNESCO, focused on issues surrounding the right to access to information and the safety of journalists.
"World Press Freedom Day provides an opportunity to reflect on the right to access to information and the safety of journalists in both online and offline spaces. Indeed, without press freedom, our societies would be less informed and less involved in the participatory governance of their democracies," said Case.
Other panelists included Diane Foley of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, Kai Sauer, Permanent Representative of Finland to the UN, Janine di Giovanni, multi- award-winning journalist and author, Said Essoulami, President of the Centre for Media Freedom in the Middle East and North Africa, and Laura Sanicola, Editor-In-Chief The Fordham Ram.
PMI contributed to the panel discussion the notion that news and political satire TV also relies on the right to access to information and the safety of journalists.
"As we commemorate World Press Freedom Day and the Sustainable Development Goals, when we discuss access to information, let’s also ask ourselves how to make information accessible to a diverse range of audiences, including through satire. And as we explore ways to improve the safety of journalists, let’s also ask ourselves how satirists, who take equal risks to voice their opinions and tell another side of the story, can also be protected," Case added