'Unseen' News and Views
President Donald Trump marked World Press Freedom Day 2025 by announcing his intention to drastically cut funding for public media in the United States. Meanwhile, the same week, his administration launched the White House Wire, a taxpayer-funded propaganda site.
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The United Nations will be commemorating World Press Freedom Day 2025 on May 3 reminding governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and marking the anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration, a statement of free press principles put together by African newspaper journalists in Windhoek in 1991.
Credit: Chris McGrath, Getty Images
– Press freedom is no longer a given in the United States 100 days into President Donald Trump’s second term as journalists and newsrooms face mounting pressures that threaten their ability to report freely and the public’s right to know.
(UN News)* — Countries must do everything to ensure that free and independent news reporting can thrive, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on in a message to mark World Press Freedom Day.
“Amidst spiraling conflict, climate chaos, growing divisions, and a rapidly changing digital landscape, a free press is more vital than ever,” said Volker Türk.
Furthermore, “the media help us understand the world around us and encourage critical thinking and dialogue.”
Free and independent media are the best antidote to disinformation but press freedom is under threat in every region of the world, he warned.
In a world plagued by conflict and division, World Press Freedom Day highlights a fundamental truth:
()* — “After losing my leg in the war, I returned to photojournalism not just for work, but because I have loved photography since childhood,” said Palestinian reporter Sami Shahada.
(UN News)* — Two months into a devastating aid blockade of Gaza food has run out and people are fighting over water amid relentless bombing, the UN’s humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) on said.
22 April 2025 — At a crowded health post in northern Ethiopia, Belaynesh Berihu cradles tiny daughter Eldana, as a health worker slips a coloured tape around the infant’s arm to gauge malnourishment.
“She eats very little, she doesn’t have an appetite,” says Berihu, whose daughter weighed less than 2 kg at birth. Berihu, too, is painfully thin – surviving on a diet of mostly wheat and teff-based bread.
Statement from UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell on the situation for children in the Gaza Strip after two months of aid blockade
NEW YORK, 2 May 2025 (UNICEF)* — “For two months, children in the Gaza Strip have faced relentless bombardments while being deprived of essential goods, services and lifesaving care.
With each passing day of the aid blockade, they face the growing risk of starvation, illness and death – nothing can justify this.
“Families are struggling to survive. They are trapped, unable to flee in search of safety. The land they used to farm has been destroyed.
(UN News)* — The UN’s top humanitarian official on Thursday [] issued a stark warning over the continuing blockade of aid into Gaza, calling on Israel to lift restrictions that have left civilians without food, medical care, and hope.
(UN News)* — Lifesaving operations everywhere continue to be shut down by sweeping funding cutbacks which will result in millions of people dying, the UN’s top aid official said on Wednesday [].
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 