The California Legislature yesterday passed a resolution recognising May 3 as World Press Freedom Day 2012 and encouraging state legislatures throughout the United States to take similar action.

California State Senator Joe Simitian, who introduced Senate Joint Resolution 22, presented a copy to members of the Sacramento Press Club on the floor of the California Senate in a ceremony that followed the body’s vote to approve the resolution.

The state’s other legislative chamber, the California Assembly, passed the measure last week after receiving a letter of support from the Vienna-based global press freedom organisation the International Press Institute (IPI), which worked with Simitian’s office to secure passage.

The resolution recognizes the role a free press plays within California and throughout the world in sustaining and monitoring democracy, contributing to greater accountability in government, and promoting civic participation and economic development. It also commends journalists around the world for their role in promoting accountability in government, honours those who stay committed to the profession despite numerous threats to their safety, and remembers journalists who have lost their lives because of their job.

IPI Acting Deputy Director Anthony Mills and CNN anchor Jim Clancy, representing IPI’s North American Committee, joined Simitian yesterday morning in a press conference to discuss the resolution.

Simitian pointed to an estimate by the U.S.-based non-governmental organisation Freedom House that only 15 percent of the world’s citizens live in countries that enjoy a free press, a number he described as “staggering”. He noted that recognition of World Press Freedom Day in 2012 was particularly important, given that 43 journalists have already lost their lives this year. According to IPI’s Death Watch, which measures the number of journalists killed each year while on assignment or because they were deliberately targeted for their reporting or for being a journalist, that tally makes 2012 one of the deadliest years for journalists so far in recent memory.

Mills, describing three examples on which IPI is focusing this year as it commemorates World Press Freedom Day – the stories of Mexican journalist Marcela Turati, Somali journalist Mohamed Ibrahim and Pakistani journalist Umar Cheema – noted: “In too many countries, journalists continue to be persecuted for their reporting. Each year dozens are killed; still more are beaten, imprisoned, kidnapped, tortured or intimidated in other ways.”

He stressed that the single biggest problem is impunity. “In the vast number of cases, those who masterminded killings, those who ordered killings, those who paid for killings, are never brought to justice”, he said.

Clancy agreed, telling participants: “The media is directly under fire. They are targeted in places like Nigeria, like Syria, like Yemen, like Bahrain. They are also in trouble in places people don’t talk about very much, like the former Soviet republics.”

The veteran international reporter said that in many places he has visited “it’s not about freedom of speech” but “freedom after the speech” – the ability for journalists to do their job without fear of retribution.

Noting that the relative freedom with which American journalists can practice leads some to take freedom of the press for granted, Mills and Clancy both thanked Simitian for sponsoring the resolution and drawing attention to World Press Freedom Day.

Clancy also pointed out that the resolution carried weight beyond California. “Don’t underestimate California’s voice…”, he said. “The world does listen when California is speaking. People of the world are in need of a lamp, a light shown on their situations. This resolution does that. It underscores the role that we can play in holding up press freedom. It is a necessary precondition to functioning democracy, to accountable government, and to the economy and free markets, which rely on that information to function.”

The United Nations in 1993 declared May 3rd of each year as World Press Freedom Day in recognition of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Passed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, Article 19 proclaims that “[e]veryone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.

The full text of the California resolution appears below.

Senate Joint Resolution No. 22
Introduced by Senator Simitian
March 22, 2012

Senate Joint Resolution No. 22—Relative to World Press Freedom Day 2012.

Legislative Counsel’s Digest

SJR 22, as amended, Simitian. World Press Freedom Day 2012.

This measure would recognize May 3, 2012, as World Press Freedom Day 2012, and encourage all state legislatures throughout the United States to recognize May 3, 2012, as World Press Freedom Day 2012, thereby also acknowledging the importance of a free press in the United States and the world.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, passed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, proclaims that “[e]veryone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”; and

WHEREAS, In 1993, the United Nations declared May 3rd of each year as World Press Freedom Day; and

WHEREAS, May 3rd is now the annual date that celebrates the fundamental principles of press freedom, evaluates press freedom around the world, defends the media from attacks on its independence, and pays tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession; and

WHEREAS, Press freedom was enshrined as a fundamental right in the United States in 1791 with the effectiveness of the Bill of Rights, containing the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, declaring “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom…of the press” and this fundamental right has been instrumental in the advancement of democratic values in the United States and around the world; and

WHEREAS, According to the International Press Institute (IPI), an independent, nonprofit organization founded in the United States in 1950 to promote press freedom worldwide and which holds consultative status with the United Nations, thus far in 2012, at least 31 journalists worldwide have lost their lives because of their profession or while on assignment, since 1997, a total of over 1,139 journalists worldwide have lost their lives because of their profession or while on assignment, including eight in the United States, and hundreds of journalists are currently imprisoned throughout the world; and

WHEREAS, According to Freedom House, a nonprofit organization with consultant status at the United Nations, press freedom is now in decline in almost every part of the world and only 15 percent of the world’s citizens live in countries that enjoy a free press; and

WHEREAS, The growing influence of Internet reporting is being injured by censorship of Internet Web sites and imprisonment of online editors, bloggers, and web-based reporters in different countries throughout the world; and

WHEREAS, A free press within California and throughout the world plays a key role in sustaining and monitoring a healthy democracy, contributing to greater accountability in government, and promoting civic participation and economic development; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature recognizes May 3, 2012, as World Press Freedom Day 2012, to commend all journalists around the world for their essential role in promoting accountability in government and strengthening civil society, to show respect for journalists who stay committed to their profession despite numerous personal threats to their safety, and to remember those journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession; and be it further

Resolved, The Legislature condemns any action against the exercise of a free press and reaffirms the importance of a free press in California and the United States; and be it further

Resolved, The Legislature encourages all state legislatures throughout the United States to recognize May 3, 2012, as World Press Freedom Day 2012, thereby also acknowledging the importance of a free press in the United States and the world; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.