When there is no free press:
• leaders are not held to account
• the people are misled
• there is no democracy
The essential role played by a free and independent media in the underpinning of democracy is being showcased as the appalling events in Ukraine unfold.
We applaud and we give heart-felt thanks to our journalists for putting themselves at personal risk to bear witness, to report and to educate.
We admire and thank them for their courage and for their dedication to the truth.
Never, in modern times, have we been so grateful for professional, fact-checked, quality journalism and for the front-line reporters and the teams who support them.
For those publishers and journalists in Russia striving to report the truth in the face of tyranny, we salute you.