Last Saturday, May 3, was annual World Press Freedom Day. This year, the state of press freedom is especially grim; journalists face imprisonment, kidnapping, and death for doing their jobs. “Unfortunately, we really don’t have a lot to celebrate,” said Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The House is moving to overhaul the handful of taxpayer-funded media organizations, but critics say the changes would turn the Voice of America into a tool for pro-western propaganda. Last week, the House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously passed a bill to make “dramatic reforms” to the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which oversees the government-backed outlets.

To commemorate World Press Freedom Day (May 3), reporters from around the globe, leaders of U.S. international media, and other staff of the Broadcasting Board of Governors today released an interactive presentation containing video testimonialsthat underscore the importance of press freedom.

Armed gunmen wearing military fatigues burst into the office of Roman Lazorenko in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk recently. They had a simple request for the local journalist. The men said they didn't want to be called separatists anymore, Lazorenko told the Guardian. They demanded that journalists instead refer to them as “supporters of federalization."

Russia should not impose unjustified regulations on freedom of expression and privacy on the Internet, Human Rights Watch said today. A restrictive new law requires Russian bloggers with significant followings to register with the authorities and comply with the same regulations as media outlets.

Press freedom in Jordan regressed last year, particularly after changes to the country’s publications and press law and government moves to block hundreds of online media sites, a new report has revealed.

Neon Tommy is hosting short stories and blog posts by reporters traveling to Pune and Mumbai, India, through the Knight Program on Media and Religion, headed by Diane Winston at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. 

Bogota’s public television station called on the Organization of American States (OAS) on Tuesday to intercede on its behalf amid threats to its executives, weeks after public appeals to Colombian national authorities.