World Press Freedom Day from Chile to Kenya: why institutions and innovation matter

Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

On 3 May each year, the world marks Press Freedom Day to show support for journalists whose ability to report freely is curtailed through harassment and intimidation, physical and online threats, financial and legal pressures. For this episode of our podcast, we speak to two Journalist Fellows, Paula Molina from Chile and Maurice Oniang'o from Kenya on the importance of press freedom for a democratic society and how strong institutions and innovation are crucial to underpin it. Find a transcript of the podcast on our website: https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/our-podcast-world-press-freedom-day-chile-kenya-why-institutions-and-innovation-matter Paula Molina co-founded news chatbot LaBot, which received the Journalism Award for Digital Excellence, one of her country's top journalism prizes, hosts a weekly Chilean female-only political prime-time TV programme and has worked as a BBC Mundo contributor since 2014. Maurice Oniang'o is an award-winning freelance Multimedia Journalist and Documentary Filmmaker based in Nairobi, Kenya. He has written for National Geographic, the Global Investigative Journalism Network and Africa.com among others. He has produced documentaries for a range of outlets including National Geographic, Africa Uncensored and NTV Wild. Host Meera Selva is Deputy Director of the Reuters Institute, and Director of the Journalist Fellowship Programme.