Impressions of #PressFreedom event in Kigali, on 2 December
As a local side-event to the World Press Freedom Conference, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Kigali on 2 December 2020 organized a lunch discussion with a diverse group of journalists and people working in the media sector in Rwanda. Sanne Schim van der Loeff, who works for World Press Photo, gave a presentation via a video connection on the concept of press freedom.
This provided the basis for a deeper discussion amongst the participants over lunch, during which the topics of the WPFC were all touched upon. All participants reflected on what the notion of “press freedom” meant to them personally, after which concepts such quality journalism, editorial independence, solidarity amongst journalists, self-censorship and journalistic responsibility, diversity and inclusion in the media sector and journalism in the digital age were debated. The discussions left the participants with a better understanding of the notion of press freedom, new insights on the mentioned concepts and an expanded network to continue to explore the topic with.