Dear media friends,

As you all are aware that we, Bhutanese media fraternity, come together on May 3 every year to observe the world press freedom day. The day is important since we celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom.

This year we could not celebrate the day due to disruptions from the Novel Coronavirus pandemic. Even as we are on the right footing in our fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, the journalists must show our faith in the power of journalism, our resilience to the challenges that has gripped the media houses and our courage to continue documenting the story of Bhutan.

Bhutan today ranks 67 out of 180 countries on World Press Freedom Index, climbing 13 points from last year’s position of 80. This is a big jump, a sign of improvement in terms of freedom of press. The improvement in ranking should encourage media personnel to continue playing our part in shining light on issues that are important to the people of Bhutan. The improved ranking I hope will also encourage our policymakers to appreciate the role, no matter how small, the Bhutanese media is playing. We will continue to hope that our policymakers will not seek freedom from the press but allow its press to function freely and responsibly.

On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, I, on behalf of Journalists’ Association of Bhutan, would like to extend my tashi delek to all Bhutanese media fraternity.

President Rinzin Wangchuk