A free press can provide information that is necessary for ensuring good governance and promoting public participation in decision-making. Furthermore, a free press can push an agenda favourable to human rights, human security and civil-society organisations.

Without a free press, neither transparency nor access to information could ever be guaranteed. The relevant authorities, be they individuals or agencies, could never be held accountable for their actions. In recent years, international financial institutions like the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have also instituted new mechanisms for ensuring growing transparency in their institutions, including better access to information in the form of its various documents and contracts.

Beyond this global theme, World Press Freedom Day encourages journalists and their organisations to ponder ways of improving their skills and safety. In recent years - especially following the September 11 tragedy and subsequent anti-terror campaign - hundreds of journalists have been killed carrying out their duties. The latest figures released by the International Press Institute show five to six journalists were killed each day last year. These victims were working journalists who had gone to the most dangerous places in the world to report on conflict and violence. Quite frequently, they were targeted by rival forces for being prime sources of information of the conflicts they were covering.

Within Southeast Asia, the state of the media is generally not improving. Countries with a relatively freer media, such as the Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia, have encountered new attempts to muzzle press freedom by the powers that be, thereby greatly impairing the media's ability to serve as a watchdog. Over the years, both the Filipino and the Thai press have suffered the most from government intervention through several means, including legislation and interfering with advertising revenues. The authorities in these countries all know their medias' weaknesses and do not hesitate to exploit them. No wonder international media organisations have consistently rated Southeast Asia as lacking in a completely free press for the past four years.

But there is good news for Thailand. A couple of months ago, the Thai media community was facing an uphill battle with the Thaksin administration, which has tried to manipulate the free press in every possible way. Before the popular street demonstrations that began in January, media outlets, print and broadcast alike, lived amid a culture of fear. Thaksin himself and some of his Cabinet members filed numerous defamation lawsuits to intimidate the media.

Fortunately, several positive court decisions have since affirmed the importance of a free press in promoting democracy and transparency in Thai society. Supinya Klangnarong's triumph against Shin Corp's ridiculous defamation suit set a new unprecedented standard for press freedom in the Kingdom. At the time this now-famous lawsuit was filed, no one believed Supinya could possibly win. But thanks to the court's impartiality, press freedom in Thailand is alive and well. Credit must also be given to His Majesty the King, who defended a free press for Thailand last December.

Ever since the Supinya decision, the local media community has become bolder in reporting political developments inside the Kingdom.

In the final analysis, the struggle for a free press around the world cannot stop, but rather must continue. Press freedom is not a given; it must constantly be nurtured, protected and promoted. No free press anywhere in the world can rest on its laurels, but instead must be on guard to remain able to ensure that this freedom will endure forever.