On the 3rd of May, the world reunites to reflect on the importance of press freedom. International organizations, including Broken Chalk, urge media officers and regular citizens to remember journalists who lost their lives, got arrested, or are forced to live under fear because they chose to follow the truth. Moreover, we want the day to act as a reminder of the dangers of restraints and censorship. In 2024, 361 journalists were arrestedi. However, threats to freedom of the press are not confined to arrest and detention; they include harassment, intimidation, monitoring of communications, and economic, and political pressure.
Freedom of speech does not impact only journalists and media personnel, but everyone else partaking in information seeking. It affects how global citizens seek, speak, and receive sources.
At Broken Chalk, we recognize how freedom of the press impacts academic freedom and viceversa. Both are pedestals for societies and communities where knowledge is shared and pursued without restrictions, fear, and limits. Scholars and journalists must be able to explore, critique, examine, and propagate topics and articles without restraints. Academic and journalistic voices being silenced or lowered entail a loss in reasoning, innovation, and democracy.
Broken Chalk wants to express its solidarity with US news outlets, journalists, scholars, and students who are experiencing damaging consequences due to their stances which question President Trump’s notions. Broken Chalk also conveys its solidarity to all those news outlets, journalists, scholars, and students who live and work in countries all around the world where their work puts them in danger and whose names and acts of bravery are often overlooked.
Photo by Larry Alger on Unsplash