World Press Freedom Day: Creativity’s Defence of Journalism

The worlds of advertising and journalism are tightly intertwined. Advertising relies on print, online and broadcast media to provide audiences for its output, while the business of advertising protects the public’s access to the journalism in that media, strengthening democracy and holding those in power to account.

May 3rd is World Press Freedom Day, a United Nations day of observance to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression.

In publications  like Little Black Book the journalism is about advertising, but it goes the other way as well – there is plenty of great advertising about journalism. So today we’re sharing a curated selection of campaigns and creative activations that have demonstrated the power of the press over the years. Whether it’s poignant depictions of the change that good journalism can bring about or comic quips at the expense of fake news peddlers, all the creativity in this collection will inspire you to consider press freedom’s value to society.

The collection ranges from iconic campaigns to promote media titles like UK newspaper the Guardian’s 1986 ‘Points of View’ ad, through to technology-driven innovations like the Immortal Award-winning ‘#StillSpeakingUp DeepTruth’ (2021) for Mexican human rights organisation Propuesta Civica. It also features defiant acts of protest such as ‘The Blank Edition’ that Middle East newspaper Annahar printed in demonstration against a lack of functioning government that in 2019 had stalled the country and pushed the economy to the brink of collapse.

Check out the work here – and let us know if there are any journalism-supporting ideas from years past that you think deserve a place in our World Press Freedom Day collection by contacting max@lbbonline.com.