Appreciating media freedom
Taariq Halim- Daily Voice Editor
Today South Africans can enjoy and celebrate a free, independent media that is populated by a diversity of voices, aired by a variety of outlets that represent all hues of our Rainbow Nation.
We are free to turn to a multitude of platforms to access our information - newspapers, radio, television, the internet and social media.
Journalists enjoy almost unlimited access in their duty to keep you, the public, informed, and are free to publish their stories across these platforms.
Even you, the citizen, are free to "publish" information and air your views on these modern platforms.
Do not take this privilege for granted.
The next time you open your newspaper, turn on the radio and TV, or surf a news website, celebrate media freedom.
The next time you click to share an opinion or article or meme on Facebook, appreciate your freedom of expression.
Because there was a time in this country when we could not exercise this basic right.
On 19 October 1977, the apartheid government infamously banned three publications and outlawed 17 anti-apartheid groups during a one-day crackdown, which came to be known as Black Wednesday, and later Media Freedom Day.
Under the old regime, journalists, activists and ordinary citizens were not allowed to write what they like, especially if that information was deemed subversive to the government.
Media companies were subject to censorship, journalists operated under the fear of being sacked, arrested and detained.
As a result, many of apartheid's crimes and corruptions went unreported.
What a difference democracy makes.
What a privilege it is to be free to be critical of government, to expose their corruption, and to hold them to account for their failings - without fear of favour.
The responsibility that comes with this freedom is the highest standards of journalistic ethics - which we gladly accept.
Happy Media Freedom Day!