Leaders of different political parties paid tribute to journalists and media workers on performing their duties amid the deadly coronavirus on World Press Freedom Day that was observed in Pakistan like other parts of the world.

Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in a statement issued on World Press Freedom Day said the federal government should refrain itself from cracking down on the media and using it as a propaganda machine.

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Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President Shahbaz Sharif on Sunday paid tribute to journalists and media workers on World Press Freedom Day. He said Pakistan media has been paying tremendous sacrifices to uphold the truth.

Governor Sindh Imran Ismail said that Prime Minister Imran Khan believed in freedom of press and he saluted all the journalists in the field working amid the deadly coronavirus.

Fayyazul Hassan Chohan said, “Today we salute all the journalists of Pakistan who are working at frontlines to bring the information to the public. Prime Minister Imran Khan cleared the remaining payments of the media.”

All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Jammu and Kashmir leader Abdul Hameed Lone said that Indian government has put up cases against one dozen Kashmiri journalists as they have no freedom to speak or write truth.

It is pertinent to mention that World Press Freedom Day has been observed on May 3 since 1993.

UNESCO is organizing a social media campaign focused on this year’s theme, “Journalism without Fear or Favour.”

Subthemes for this year’s WPFD look at the safety of journalists and media workers, independent journalism free from political and commercial influence and gender equality.

The UN secretary general said, “We call on governments and others to guarantee that journalists can do their jobs throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. As the pandemic spreads, it has also given rise to a second pandemic of misinformation from harmful health advice to wild conspiracy theories.”

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While, UNESCO said that third May acts as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom and is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics.

“Just as importantly, World Press Freedom Day is a day of support for media which are targets for the restraint, or abolition, of press freedom. It is also a day of remembrance for those journalists who lost their lives in the pursuit of a story,” Unesco said.