On World Press Freedom Day, marked each year on May 3, Unifor is calling for urgent action to protect press freedom, strengthen local journalism, and ensure the safety and independence of media workers in Canada and globally.

World Press Freedom Day, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in in 1993, underscores the essential role of a free press in sustaining democracy and holding power to account.

The global environment for press freedom continues to deteriorate. Journalists face harassment, censorship, detention, and violence at alarming rates.

Today, press freedom is under growing threat worldwide. Journalists face harassment, censorship, detention, and violence at alarming rates. Since last year’s World Press Freedom Day alone, 78 journalists have been killed, according to UNESCO, spotlighting part of a broader pattern that highlights the risks faced by those reporting the truth.

A thriving, independent media sector is critical to safeguarding democratic institutions and the communities they serve. While Canada remains a global leader in democratic freedoms, warning signs are emerging. Declining local news coverage, rising hostility toward journalists, economic strain, and increased pressure on access-to-information systems are all cause for concern.

Economic pressures continue to reshape the media landscape. The dominance of large digital platforms in advertising markets has contributed to newsroom closures, layoffs, and reduced access to reliable local news.

At the same time, journalists in Canada are facing rising levels of harassment, surveillance, and intimidation, particularly women, workers of colour, Indigenous media workers, 2SLGBTQIA+ media workers and others from equity-deserving groups, who are disproportionately affected by harassment.

Unifor is supporting the Canadian News Industry Peer Support program, which builds a network of trained volunteers to help colleagues navigate stress, burnout or other workplace challenges.

The union continues to advocate for measures to protect journalism and #savelocalnews, ensure our members are shielded from harassment and abuse, and address misinformation, an ever-increasing battleground for press freedom.

The digital transformation of media has intensified these challenges. Disinformation campaigns that have been amplified on social media through the use of AI are eroding public trust, making it harder to distinguish fact from fiction.

To help counter this, Unifor created factcheckhere.ca, a news industry-supported campaign to encourage Canadians to pause and check their sources of information with a credible news source before sharing it.

Representing more than 9,000 media workers across Canada, Unifor remains committed to building a vibrant, independent, and sustainable media sector. The union continues to advocate for policies and programs that sustain journalism and support media workers, including requiring digital platforms to fairly compensate news organizations and strengthening support for public-interest reporting.

On this World Press Freedom Day, Unifor urges governments, media organizations, and the public to take concrete action to defend press freedom by:

• Protecting journalists from harassment, violence, and intimidation
• Strengthening local news and public-interest journalism
• Holding tech platforms accountable by ensuring they contribute fairly to the news ecosystem
• Combatting disinformation while upholding freedom of expression
• Promoting media literacy and public trust in journalism