Some 2,500 years after Thucydides became the world's first military correspondent covering just the straight facts of the Peloponnesian War, and 600 years after Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, it could be expected that the world's population has grown comfortable with factual information, mass communications and the wide dissemination of news and ideas. But freedom of the media and access to information across the globe is still an idea that requires constant tending.

World Press Freedom Day, which is marked every May 3, is an opportunity to take stock of how close we all are coming to achieving that goal. And while bad news will always trump good news, there is plenty of positive progress that should be trumpeted, lest we feel the task is too great.

In the former Soviet republics, a new generation of journalists who were too young to be influenced by the restrictive Politburo have shown a remarkable independent streak in the face of the old guard. Brave Ukrainian journalists stayed on the air through massive political upheaval during that country's Orange Revolution in 2004, giving citizens critical information during a confusing and tempestuous period. Their reporting helped quell tensions and turn a volatile situation into a peaceful reaction.

The influx and delivery of unfiltered information into previously repressive societies is also having a strong effect on health and safety. For instance, Southeast Asia, which is being hit quickly and hard by climate change, has myriad journalists who are asking the tough questions of their governments on crucial environmental issues. These queries are leading to a developed public consciousness of global warming and environmental protection, prompting governments to take action.

In Kenya this year, journalists quickly understood the immense power they held in post-election riots and came together to quell the use of hate speech in broadcasts. Their role was immense in ensuring the stability of the country.

In Chad, Internews-established radio stations are broadcasting reports to refugees from Darfur, helping them access vital information about health, food, water and shelter.

Radio stations now operate in many areas of Afghanistan that had once been silenced by the Taliban's information black hole. Despite ongoing security challenges, the stations are staffed completely by locals discussing issues that are most important to them.

Worldwide, the silence surrounding HIV/AIDS is now being addressed in public because of brave journalists who are willing to face the problem directly, rather than try to ignore it or stigmatizing those affected.

But freedom of the media isn't just about who controls the press or the transmitter or the cell phones, or even how many of each there are. It's about how a society protects information's many pathways as a whole. A free working press should be the goal of every country, every day. We hold true to this tenet in the United States. But media freedom—in short, the ability to exchange ideas openly without the fear of persecution—needs our constant attention. Evidence of this is found in the bold message of Washington, D.C.'s newly opened "Newseum", whose 74-foot façade emblazons the words of the First Amendment so large no politician could mistake it—or, we hope, dare to dilute it. It's important to remind every society what a free press and access to information can bring, how far we really have come, and how far we have to go.

David Hoffman is President of Internews Network, an international media development organization.

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