INTERNATIONAL JOURNALIST’S REMEMBRANCE DAY- NOVEMBER 19, 2023
Journalists are the eyes and ears of the public. They are responsible for providing us with much-needed information and honoring the memories of them that laid down their lives in the line of duty and recognizing their efforts; International Journalist’s Remembrance Day was established. Journalists worldwide face threats to their lives as some are purposely targeted and murdered because of their work, while some perish in incidents such as bomb explosions. Moreover, many governments worldwide also target journalists to harass, intimidate and violate them as they cover political issues.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNALIST’S DAY IN HISTORY
Journalism can be traced back to the Han dynasty in China, which used regularly published news bulletins. Still, in the 17th Century, the general public began to receive standardized information from various reporting publications. Mass-printing technologies like the printing press were developed, enabling the establishment of newspapers to provide news to increasingly literate audiences.
In China, the first records of private newspaper publishers in China can be traced to the late Ming dynasty in 1582. In Europe, the first newspaper is recognized as Johann Carolus’s “Relation aller Furnemmen und gedenckwurdigen Historien,” published in Strasbourg in 1605. Journalistic enterprises were started as private ventures in some regions, such as British Empire and Roman Empire. In other countries, such as France and Prussia, the press was tightly controlled and treated as an outlet for government propaganda, thus subjecting them to consistent censorship. Other governments, such as the Russian Empire, were even warier of journalists and effectively outlawed journalistic publications until the mid-19th Century. Publications became as frequent as weekly or daily as newspaper publications became more established as a practice. A heavy concentration of newspapers was found in trade centers such as London, Amsterdam, and Berlin.
Today’s media consumption has shifted to digital platforms such as e-readers, and smartphones, leading to a decline in traditional media and reduced newsroom staff.
5 IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT JOURNALISM
- Standards Differ Worldwide
Over 242 various codes of ethics in journalism exist across the globe
- Law does Not protect Sources
No law in the U.S. federal courts protects a journalist’s sources.
- Difficult Times
Between 1970 and 2018, about 500 newspapers in the U.S. shut down.
- Most Popular Site
Yahoo News is the most popular news website, with over 175 million unique monthly visitors as of August 2020.
- Oldest Newspaper in America
Founded by Alexander Hamilton in 1801, the New York Post is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the U.S.
