May: Democracy and Civil Society: World Press Freedom Day

May 3 is World Press Freedom Day. The UN first proclaimed World Press Freedom Day in 1993 to "[celebrate] the fundamental principles of press freedom; to evaluate press freedom around the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession" (per the UNESCO website).

The official website for the Day by UNESCO offers descriptions of the 2012 themes, information about previous years, and current and past winners of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. This year's Laureate is Eynulla Fatullayev, a journalist in Azerbaijan.

What are the privileges and responsibilities of a free press? In the IIP Book Media Law Handbook, Professor Jane Kirtley, Silha Professor of Media Ethics and Law at the University of Minnesota, explores how free societies answer this question.

This handbook from IIP covers what every professional journalist should know — from how to research, write, and edit a story to how to write headlines, choose graphics, and select quotes and sound bites. Print, radio, TV, and Web-based journalism are discussed in detail, as well as the skills required in beat reporting.

New media technologies give average citizens access to vast amounts of information and broad networks of people. People can use these tools to pursue social and political agendas of their own making. This edition of eJournal USA from 2007 shows how this new empowerment is influencing nations in various parts of the world.

Searching Academic OneFile for "Freedom of the Press" shows a variety of news and magazine articles and academic journal reports covering issues pertaining to this topic. This resource, available through eLibraryUSA, can be accessed at Information Resource Centers, American Corners, and Binational Centers, or by using a password.

Searching ebrary for "Journalism" shows a number of books about the practice of and the issues affecting journalism. This resource, available through eLibraryUSA, can be accessed at Information Resource Centers, American Corners, and Binational Centers, or by using a password.

Filmakers Library Online features 16 documentaries on the subject of journalism. This resource, available through eLibraryUSA, can be accessed at Information Resource Centers, American Corners, and Binational Centers, or by using a password.

Gale's Global Issues in Context features a report about attempts to curb press freedom, including links to articles, reference works, videos, and statistics. This resource, available through eLibraryUSA, can be accessed at Information Resource Centers, American Corners, and Binational Centers, or by using a password.

Fuente Académica is a collection from EBSCO of Spanish-language news and journals. Searching "libertad de prensa" brings up a number of academic journals and magazine articles about freedom of the press issues. This resource, available through eLibraryUSA, can be accessed at Information Resource Centers, American Corners, and Binational Centers, or by using a password.

Reporters Without Borders/Reporters Sans Frontières is an international non-government organization that advocates for freedom of the press around the world. It publishes the annual Press Freedom Index, which ranks countries based on their records for press freedom.