Saturday, May 3, is World Press Freedom Day. We celebrate that because in the US we are fortunate to have a strong Constitution that protects press freedom and other forms of free expression. Our observation of world press freedom is aspirational, because that freedom does not exist in every country—and, in fact, it’s under threat in the US today because of the words and actions of our wannabe dictator/president.
Today’s dictators such as Hungary’s Orban, Russia’s Putin and China’s Xi— as well as historical despots such as Hitler and Stalin—suppress free expression and control all media. That means there is no press freedom for citizens who live under those rulers.
We celebrate local press freedom too. Third Coast Review benefits from that as do our larger news partners, both newspapers and electronic media. Chicago is lucky to have a vibrant news media environment, where vehicles cover all forms of news, culture, neighborhoods and diverse populations. We are members of the Chicago Independent Media Alliance, which operates under that press freedom every day.
For Third Coast Review, press freedom means that our writers are free to critique arts and culture events in our long-form reviews. And they occasionally incorporate their political commentary in those cultural reviews. Our writers also publish their own occasional rants or essays on our Soapbox page. Patrick Reardon, one of our Lit page contributors, recently posted an essay on why he chooses the “spring of hope” over the “never-ending winter storm (of) the jarring, clashing, coarse strut of the Trump administration.” And food page editor Caroline Huftalen posted an essay titled ”The Joy of Eating as the World Burns” after the November election.
We hope you support World Press Freedom Day too—and that you will consider helping us do our small part in sustaining that freedom by making a donation to Third Coast Review.
World Press Freedom Day is sponsored by UNESCO and was established by the UN General Assembly in 1993.