World News Day Sets Ambitious Global Target to Amplify Fact-based Climate Journalism

TORONTO, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - The fourth annual World News Day, a worldwide campaign for global news organizations to draw audience attention to the value of fact-based journalism, will take place on September 28, 2021.

This year, World News Day will highlight the critical importance of journalism in providing trustworthy information about the future of our planet and its people.

World News Day's organizers, The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) and the World Editors Forum (WEF), hope to unite more than 300 news organizations behind this singular theme to drive home the vital message that credible journalism matters if people are to make informed decisions about our planet's future.  

David Walmsley, founder of World News Day and Editor-in-Chief of The Globe and Mail in Canada, said: "The challenges facing our planet need all of our attention and through your participation we can improve journalism and build a greater sense of urgency and relevance that helps us all."

Warren Fernandez, President of the World Editors Forum (WEF) and Editor-in-Chief of The Straits Times in Singapore, said: "Journalists have been at the frontlines covering the pandemic, helping communities and audiences stay informed, and safe. We now need to turn attention to the other major challenge our world faces — the climate crisis — and show how journalism can make a difference to save our planet. World News Day is an opportunity to go behind the scenes and show how communities are served when journalists do their jobs."

Kathy English, Chair of The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) and former public editor of the Toronto Star, said: "No story matters more to the citizens of the world than the climate change crisis. World News Day 2021 focuses on this defining challenge of our times and the important role journalists play in providing vital facts about the future of our planet and its peoples."

Last September, amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, journalists from more than 180 news organizations — including The New York Times, BBC News, The Washington Post, Financial Times, Axios, The Globe and Mail, The Straits Times, and Toronto Star — rallied around World News Day to highlight the value of fact-based journalism in an age of misinformation. Dozens of countries were represented by World News Day's participating organizations with a global reach of 1.28 billion people. Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and Maria Ressa, the embattled co-founder and executive editor of the Filipino news site Rappler, were among the newsmakers and journalists featured in last year's event day programming.   

World News Day 2021 is supported by Google News Initiative and Lippo Group. 

Cision is the exclusive distribution partner of the CJF.

How your news organization can get involved in World News Day 2021:

What is the pressing climate problem in the U.S. and Canada? The Maldives? The UK? South Africa?

World News Day is seeking your support and local leadership to help showcase the value of journalism, particularly in telling the story of the climate emergency. By signing up as a supporter and participant of the campaign, your newsroom will join hundreds of other news organizations in an all-hands-on-deck initiative to highlight these two important issues.

For more information and to secure your newsroom's involvement in World News Day, please reach out to Alexander Jones, Global Project Coordinator, World News Day, at [email protected]. Together, let us show the world that #JournalismMatters!

About The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF)

Established in 1990, The Canadian Journalism Foundation promotes, celebrates, and facilitates excellence in journalism.  The foundation runs a prestigious annual awards and fellowships program featuring an industry gala where news leaders, journalists and corporate Canada gather to celebrate outstanding journalistic achievement and the value of professional journalism. Through monthly J-Talks, a public speakers' series, the CJF facilitates dialogue among journalists, business people, academics and students about the role of the media in Canadian society and its ongoing challenges in the digital era. The foundation also fosters opportunities for journalism education, training and research.

About the World Editors Forum

The World Editors Forum is the leading global network for editors of news organizations within WAN-IFRA. It is built on a commitment to defend press freedom and promote editorial excellence. It was established more than two decades ago and focuses on building the capacity of newsrooms through training, innovative practices, conferences and sharing of experiences.

About WAN-IFRA

WAN-IFR A  is the World Association of News Publishers. Its mission is to protect the rights of journalists and publishers around the world to operate independent media. WAN-IFRA provides its members with expertise and services to innovate and prosper in a digital world and perform their crucial role in society. With formal representative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe, it derives its authority from its global network of leading news publishing companies and technology entrepreneurs, and its legitimacy from its 80 national association members representing 18,000 publications in 120 countries.

SOURCE Canadian Journalism Foundation

Related Links

http://www.cjf-fjc.ca