In the year 2001, more than 50 journalists were killed, 489 were arrested and 110 were jailed worldwide.

In this context, United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) organised a talk programme on ‘Terrorism and the Media’ here on Friday commemorating the World Press Freedom Day.

“The self regulation is the only regulation and should be exercised in the present situation,” said Peter Laws, reading the message from Y. Kitamura, UNESCO representative for Nepal. “When exercising the power of freedom of press, the journalists should not let go of their power to judge.”

“All the press should come together and work against terrorism in the country,” said Govinda Biyogy, president of Editor Society of Nepal. He requested the government to set the captured journalists free, since such actions are giving out wrong signals to the reporters who are staking their lives for the public.

“The limitation of the freedom of the press, in the present state of emergency, could have serious adverse effects in the long term,” said Suresh Acharya, president of Federation of Nepalese Journalists.

“Any act of terrorism or to promote terrorism can not be forgiven, irrespective of who the person is,” said Narayan Prasad Saud, state minister for education and sports. “Thus, it is crucial for all journalists to be sensitive towards this situation and work accordingly.”

“Terrorism has been generating concerns worldwide and Nepal has had to deal with the same situation due to Maoist insurgency,” said Amod Prasad Upadhyay, minister for education and sports. “Thus, both the government and the press should build an understanding and work according to the rule of law.”

A joint message for World Press Freedom Day from Secretary General of United Nations, Director General of UNESCO and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights read: “The greatest services that the media can perform in the fight against terrorism is to act freely, independently and responsibly. This means that they must neither be cowed by threats nor become a mere mouthpiece of patriotic sentiment or inflammatory opinion.

Rather, the media must search for and publicise the truth; present information and views impartially; consider their words and images carefully and uphold high standards of professional conduct.

A responsible press, moreover, is a self-regulated press. The temptation to impose drastic state regulations upon the media must be resisted.”

On a recommendation made by Economic and Social Council and as an outgrowth of the seminar on promoting an independent and pluralistic African press, World Press Freedom Day was established by the General Assembly of the United Nations decision 48/432 of 20 December 1993.

From then on 3rd May has been celebrated 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.

This day has been serving as a day of action to encourage an develop initiatives for freedom of press, a day of reflection to encourage debate among media professionals on issues of freedom of press and professional ethics and a day of remembrance for journalists who have lost their lives in this profession.

Also this is a day to assess state of press worldwide, to remind governments to respect their commitments to press freedom and to alert the public to increase awareness of the importance of freedom of press.