PT Education will be celebrating the ‘Press Freedom Day’ on the 3rd of May this year. Throughout the world, May the Third serves as an occasion to inform the public of violations of the right to freedom of expression and as a reminder that many journalists brave death or jail to bring people their daily news.
The media is a force for change and we at PT too intend to push this concept forward. UNESCO too remarks that “in the modern globalizing world, information sows the seeds of prosperity, and those who are without accesses to information are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to building a better future for themselves and for their children.”
World Press Freedom Day reminds us all – governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations as well as civil society – of the crucial role a free press plays in strengthening democracies and fostering development around the world. This day was proclaimed by the General Assembly of the UN in 1993, and the Day has been observed on 3 May ever since.
“When people do not have a voice in the public arena, or access to information on issues that affect their lives, and where their concerns are not reasonably reflected in the media, development tends to be undermined and catastrophes such as famines are less likely to be averted.
Lack of access to communication undermines the capacity of the poor to participate in democratic processes. Frustration and alienation over lack of means of expression lead to disaffection with the political process resulting in apathy or violence.”
We at PT Education will be focusing on the importance of education for the right onslaught on poverty. It is poverty of literacy that leads to any other form of poverty and our efforts have been to take care of this by providing a level of education that effectively mentors students to not just realize their own aspirations and dreams but also do their bit for the uplift of society and the under-privileged.
PT Education will be promoting in-house panel discussions to provide a forum to debate issues such as the freedom, and responsibilities, of the press, the safety and security of journalists, efforts of governmental and corporate “control” of media, including the Internet and its “governance”, as well as the media’s capacity to catalyze socio-economic development, particularly the eradication of illiteracy. Thus some of the topics that will be considered may be from the following list:
Media Laws
Press Freedom
Assistance to Media in Conflict Situations
Promotion of Free Expression
Ethical Issues of Information Society
PT Education also believes in spreading the goodness of education and literacy through the dissemination of value-content to the media and are always supportive and co-operative with not just the needs but also the deadlines that our brothers in the media have to live with on a day to day basis.
We thus reiterate that freedom in any of its hues has a link to value-added information and a knowledge base that needs powerful mentors to step forward and assist with all zeal and zing. As we say at PT, we will not just do it but… Kar ke dikhayenge!
