National Press Club invites you to World Press Freedom Day activities on May 3
The National Press Club is planning a series of events on Wednesday, May 3, to commemorate World Press Freedom Day.
Webcast: Conversation with Rana Ayyub and Eileen O'Reilly:
At 10 a.m. make sure you tune in for a conversation with Rana Ayyub about her ongoing work and the state of press freedom in India. Ayyub has reported on religious violence, extrajudicial killings by the state, and insurgency and is a contributor to Washington Post Opinions.
Ayyub has faced government intimidation including travel restrictions for her work and has been experiencing threats of violence. The Indian government has been using the judicial system to harass, intimidate and imprison journalists.
NPC President Eileen O’Reilly plans to connect with Ayyub ahead of her most recent hearing and give her honorary Club membership.
Letter Writing to Support Evan Gershkovich:
From 11 a.m. to noon in the Bloomberg Room, we are encouraging all NPC members and their peers to participate in a letter writing campaign for Evan Gershkovich. The Wall Street Journal is collecting messages for the detained reporter and his family.
Gershkovich is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, where he covers Russia, Ukraine and the former Soviet Union.
In March 2023, he was arrested in Russia while on a reporting trip and accused of spying, making him the first American journalist detained in Russia on espionage charges since the Cold War. The Journal vehemently denies the allegations. President Joe Biden and news organizations around the world have joined the Journal in calling for Mr. Gershkovich’s immediate release.
At 1 p.m. join us in the Fourth Estate Room for a panel on remote reporting. Journalists who have been forced to flee their countries plan to convey their own personal stories of how they got out and got settled in a new location. They plan to share what circumstances lead them to leave and what the current climate is for journalists in their home country, highlighting the process they underwent when trying to cover what's happening in their countries.
The panel includes:
- Mohammad Mosaed, a journalist from Iran now working in information technology at the Club
- Zaki Daryabi, publisher of Etilaatroz, an independent Afghan news organization
- Diing Magot, a freelance journalist for Voice of America's South Sudan in Focus
- Tamerat Negera, a journalist and founder of the Terara Network, an Ethiopian media company