International Association Of Independent Journalists Inc.

[Maurice Ali]

World Press Freedom Day Is Freedom For All!


By Maurice Ali, President: IAIJ Inc.


World Press Freedom Day is freedom for all! At the International Association of Independent Journalists, we promote and lobby on behalf of citizen journalism and citizen journalists worldwide, and since anyone can be a citizen journalist, World Press Freedom Day is freedom for all. It should be remembered that many citizen journalists are harassed, imprisoned and even killed for reporting on events or simply taking photographs or video at newsworthy events. Furthermore the access to the internet is still under attack by those who would regionalize or segregate the internet for political or business purposes. The International Association of Independent Journalists lobbies on behalf of citizen journalists to keep the internet open and free for the dissemination of information for all and lobbies on behalf of citizen journalists for protections of those citizen journalists as they perform their journalism.

It should be noted though, that citizen journalism is not defined by access to the internet. Citizen journalism can also be disseminated though traditional print in small communities, and by radio and even traditional television. At IAIJ we have accessed all these traditional forms of media to report on the news in traditional print newspapers and present documentaries on TV as well as book publishing just to name of few projects from the past. An open mass media and empowered citizen journalist community can work to keep the fundamental aspects of freedom of expression alive. Furthermore, with more and more people taking pictures and recording media at news worthy events, IAIJ is also an active promoter of viable partnerships with traditional broadcast news agencies and citizen journalists to ensure that the public gets the most up to date and fullest coverage of news events of interest to them.

Technology has changed the way news events are reported and disseminated. New ways of doing things must be met with new policies and partnerships to fully take advantage of the new technology and the participation of the citizen journalist in reporting the news. The end result of this can be a world where news reporting is instantaneous, accurate, informative and disseminated to anyone in the world that has an interest. In this way all peoples of the world will have the most information available to know what is happening in their world and the knowledge to form opinions based on all aspects of an issue, and in the end insuring true self-determination for all. World Press Freedom Day is freedom for all!



IAIJ: JOURNALISTS IN ACTION AROUND THE WORLD!