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MAHMOOD SANGLAY
May 3, 2024 is World Press Freedom Day. Usually, we celebrate the occasion, but this is a grave time, to mark the murder of journalists. The eight-month-long Israeli genocide in Gaza is the only military operation in modern history that has claimed the lives of over 100 journalists.
This includes targeted killings of journalists who are frequently treated by Israel as if they are enemy combatants, and not as media that has the right to report without fear of threat or attack.
We join journalists and media organisations around the world in expressing our outrage at this unprecedented assault on press freedom. When a state targets journalists, it targets press freedom. And when press freedom is undermined the right of the public to access information is undermined.
Ultimately, the public is the victim when press freedom suffers. Such conduct by a state has no moral standing in a civilised world. It is a mockery of democracy and an affront to humanity.
Muslim Views is also a community news organisation with roots in local communities in South Africa. We have deep connections to an Ummah — a global community of believers. We thus have a potential reach to a global audience of people committed to universal values like social justice.
It is as a local media organisation that we also draw attention to the sustainability of independent community media. This remains an ever-relevant issue for audiences all over the world in search of reliable, informative and independent content that serves the public interest.
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