Common Core State Standard
SL.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: An essay of a current news event is provided for discussion to encourage participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the article. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event within the news, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support. FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 09, 2011 World Press Freedom Day highlights journalists' struggles
 Find a story that depends on government transparency and a journalist's access to information.
 Which stories from overseas seem to rely on new media tools (cell phones, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. ) for their existence?
 How much of the reporting in your newspaper seems to come from new media and citizen journalists or bloggers? Can you find examples?
News events like the death of Osama bin Laden last week overshadowed World Press Freedom Day. In 1993, the United Nations and UNESCO designated May 3 World Press Freedom Day to serve as a constant reminder of the challenges journalists around the world face every day. This year's World Press Freedom Day conference in Washington, focused on the growing role of the internet, the emergence of new media and the dramatic rise in social networking. This year's theme : "21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers." Social media, mobile phones and the Internet are fueling the drive for fundamental changes across North Africa and the Middle East. As government censorship and brutal crackdowns hamper traditonal press outlets from freely reporting events, "citizen journalists" are playing a major role in the dramatic political changes taking place from Egypt to Tunisia to Libya to Syria. "World Press Freedom Day also serves as an occasion to alert citizens to violations of press freedom. It provides a reminder that in dozens of countries around the world, publications are being censored, fined, suspended and closed down, while journalists, editors and publishers are being harassed, attacked, detained and even murdered." -- Sierra Leone Association of Journalists
Click here for more information on ways to mark World Press Freedom Day Front Page Talking Points is written by
Felix Grabowski and Alan Stamm for NIEonline.com, Copyright 2026
Front Page Talking Points Archive►U.S. military strikes on Iran bring counter-attacks and congressional pushback ►'The digital Wild West:' Teen social media limits spread in Europe ►Winter Games: Elite athletes show Olympic medal-winning skills in Italy ►Reporters' arrest in Minneapolis church protest raises press freedom issue ►NASA prepares for return to the moon, starting with an orbital mission by four astronauts ►Minneapolis roundups and woman's death intensify debate over immigration agents' tactics ►Australia is a test case for social media age limits, with 16 as a minimum for accounts there now |
2010 WAN-IFRA Press Freedom Film:
"Imagine a world in which there is no right to inform, report, investigate, challenge or express an opinion. This is a world where darkness infiltrates every corner of life, where truth is anathema and the power of knowledge simply unknown."