Only last week (16 November 2020), Canada and Botswana co-hosted the second Global Conference for Media Freedom, including the first Ministerial meeting of the Media Freedom Coalition. The Media Freedom Coalition is a coalition of 37 governments working together to advocate for media freedom and the protection of journalists around the world. This work is very much needed as we see more attacks on journalists internationally.
We all know the serious risks faced by journalists for doing their job and delivering news to us. Some of them pay the ultimate price – their life. This is the price that Daphne Caruana Galiziapaid for reporting on corruption. This is the price Jamal Khashoggi paid for reporting on the situation in Saudi Arabia. The list goes on.
Others are harassed, intimidated, and arrested. Earlier this month, Hopewell Chin’ono, an award-winning journalist, was arrested after tweeting about a gold smuggling case. He was arrested for allegedly obstructing justice. He was incarcerated at a maximum-security prison. Only a few days ago, a Zimbabwean high court freed him on bail. The High Court found that the Magistrate grossly misdirected herself in denying him bail.
