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Voice 1 Who are all these people? Well, these ten men and women are journalists. They write for different newspapers and magazines in their countries. And, they have all received the UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize. UNESCO is part of the United Nations. It is responsible for educational, scientific and cultural matters around the world. It first presented the World Press Freedom Prizein 1997. This award is also called the “Guillermo Cano” Prize. The prize is in memory of a journalist, Guillermo Cano. He was the publisher of a daily newspaper in Columbia. Guillermo Cano wrote about illegal drug traders in Colombia. He described the terrible effects that the drug trade had on his country. So some drug dealers paid two men to kill him. People remember Guillermo as a man ofcourage. He always tried to report the truth. No one could persuade him to publish false information. Guillermo Cano faced many problems in his work as a journalist. Some people opposed what he wrote. They wanted to limit his freedom to express his opinions.

Voice 2 UNESCO believes that journalists should be free to report the news. And this is why it gives the press freedom award every year on thethird of May. This is World Press Freedom Day. For the year 2007, the celebrations are in Colombia. UNESCO chose Colombia because 2007 marks the tenth anniversary of the World Press Freedom Prize. Lack of press freedom is still an issue today. But this should not be the case.

Voice 1 Almost sixty [60] years ago, the members of the United Nations agreed a set of rights that every person shouldenjoy. This is the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”. Article Nineteen [19] of the declaration states that:

Voice 3 “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion… This right includes freedom to [have] opinions without [anyone] interfering [with them].They have the right to seek, receive and give information. They can do this in any way they like. And there should be no barriers to stopthem.”

Voice 1 So, press freedom should be a human right for everyone - no matter where they are.

Voice 2 People who attend the World Press Freedom Day will discuss three main issues. First: safety. How can journalists do their job without fear of attack? How can they improve their security?

Voice 1 The second issue is: working in areas where there is war. What particular problems dojournalists face when reporting on a conflict? What can they do to make their job easier?

Voice 2 The third issue that people will discuss may be the most worrying. It deals with the lack of punishment for people who harm journalists. A report by the Committee to Protect Journalists shows how serious this problem is. In the last fifteen [15] years, hundreds of journalists have been murdered.But in most cases, the authorities did not sentence anyone. Often, they did not even investigate these murders.

Voice 1 UNESCO has asked member states to act against this behaviour. It believes that all governments should make sure that freedom of the press exists in their own countries. UNESCO believes that often, journalists do not seem to be independent. They are not free to report onwrong-doing in politics. They cannot ask the government questions without fear of punishment. In some places, these journalists may face danger because of this. Timothy Balding is the head of the World Association of Newspapers. He says:

Voice 5 “Journalism today is more dangerous than ever. More than five hundred journalists were killed in the last ten years. And this is often because they were justdoing their job. These murders are a direct attack on individuals. But they are also an attack on the whole of society. Yet few of the killers ever go to prison.”

Voice 2 However, many journalists continue to do their job even when they have limited freedom. Their main concern is to report on what they see and hear - even if it means trouble for them and their families. The winner of the...