Miami (May 3, 2025) — On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day 2025, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) is joining a continental media campaign to reaffirm its commitment to journalism, freedom of expression, and strengthening democracy.
“Defending press freedom is defending democracy”
Miami (May 3, 2025) — On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day 2025, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) is joining a continental media campaign to reaffirm its commitment to journalism, freedom of expression, and strengthening democracy.
Faced with growing challenges confronting independent press — such as organized crime violence, the rise of authoritarianism, misinformation, persecution, and the exile of journalists — the campaign “Defending press freedom is defending democracy” has emerged.
The initiative was created by the Spanish advertising agency Portavoz for the Colombian Association of Information Media (AMI). Alongside IAPA and AMI, this campaign includes participation from the World Association of News Publishers WAN-IFRA, the National Association of Newspapers (ANJ - Brazil), the Association of Journalistic Entities of Argentina (ADEPA), the National Press Association (ANP - Chile), the Association of Information Media (AMI - Spain), the Media Alliance Mx (Alianza de Medios MX - Mexico), the Council of the Peruvian Press (CPP), and the Ecuadorian Association of Newspaper Editors (AEDEP).
Last year, in commemoration of this date, IAPA, together with national and international organizations, signed the Santiago +30 Declaration in the Chilean capital. This document addresses the new political, social, and technological challenges facing journalism globally, urging states, intergovernmental organizations, technology companies, media, and journalists to undertake 'collaborative efforts' to consolidate freedom of expression as a fundamental human right and an essential pillar of informed democratic societies.
World Press Freedom Day is celebrated on May 3 each year in commemoration of the Windhoek Declaration adopted in 1991 during a meeting of African journalists promoted by UNESCO. This document established fundamental principles for defending press freedom. Three decades later, in 2021, the Windhoek +30 Declaration was adopted, updating that normative framework in response to challenges posed by digital transformation and the increasing power of major technological platforms over freedom of expression.
The IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and expression in the Americas. It comprises more than 1,300 publications from the western hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida, United States.