National Press Club podcast explores threats to press freedom at home and abroad

The latest edition of Update-1 , the National Press Club podcast, highlights World Press Freedom Day on May 3, an observance created by the United Nations to remind member governments that freedom of expression is promised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Kathy Kiely, who holds the press freedom fellowship of the National Press Club Journalism Institute and is a 40-year veteran reporter and editor, discusses the threats to press freedom with broadcast journalist Irv Chapman.

She notes that, while dictatorships have long throttled the press, Western democracies are increasingly placing obstacles in the path of journalists who report on issues considered off-limits, such as corruption and terrorism. Kiely says that as a political editor last year, she had to warn her reporters of threats of violence from partisan crowds at election rallies, egged on by the winning candidate.

Update-1 is produced by Mike Hempen. The podcast can be heard here on the Club website or on iTunes, Sticher and Tunein.