Shaping a future of peace is impossible to achieve if people in the most repressed regions do not have access to accurate and current information. This is exactly what RFA does. On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, RFA President and CEO Bay Fang delivered the following video message:
Transcription:
Good morning. My name is Bay Fang, President and CEO of Radio Free Asia.
As we celebrate World Press Freedom Day, I am proud to say that RFA is back.
Our journalists have returned to producing information that would otherwise not be read, seen or heard.
Since its return, RFA Uyghur has reported that Uyghur children in Xinjiang are being forced into manual labor;
RFA Burmese saved lives by covering a community in a war-torn Myanmar village lacking essential supplies.
And RFA’s Mandarin Service allowed Chinese listeners to hear from the father of Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu, who fled China after the 1989 Tiananmen protests.
The audience clearly showed how much RFA meant to them.
And in March, digital engagement showed that RFA’s audience was rebounding.
This is a victory, because our existence was threatened last year.
So thank you for standing with us as we fought hard to bring you uncensored news.
But journalists still face enormous challenges.
We were delighted and relieved that Shin Daewe, RFA’s Burmese contributor and award-winning documentary filmmaker, was released.
She had been unjustly detained for almost three years.
And she is not the only RFA journalist to be persecuted. We still have four contributors serving long prison sentences in Vietnam.
Meanwhile, hundreds more journalists are jailed or detained around the world, with China, Myanmar and Vietnam among the worst offenders.
As we celebrate World Press Freedom Day, let us remember that a free press is not a privilege, but a fundamental right.
It can also help shape a future of peace, which is what the world needs right now.
At RFA, we will continue to fight to bring the truth to our audience.
No matter the difficulties, whatever obstacles stand in our way.
I promise you: we will meet then.