Accusations of censorship at UN on World Press Freedom Day

CTV National News: Press freedom's troubling trend Delays with access to information requests highlight a troubling issue with press freedom in Canada. Omar Sachedina reports.

On World Press Freedom Day when the U.N. chief is touting the "invaluable" role of a free press, a decision to postpone a U.N. panel discussion on international media freedom and fake news has sparked accusations of censorship.

The postponement was raised at the official U.N. event Thursday marking World Press Freedom Day where Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a video message that the media's service to the public "is invaluable."

Robert Mahoney, deputy executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, thanked organizers of the official event for shining a light on the work of journalists but said unfortunately "as we battle censorship around the world ... the panel was cancelled because one of the presenters was going to mention by name countries that jail journalists."