CAIRO: This year's World Press Freedom Day, with its focus on social media, is an excellent opportunity to celebrate the extraordinary democratic transformation currently underway in Egypt. During the January 25 Revolution, all Egyptians became citizen journalists. From public squares and coffee shops all over Egypt, people used social media to report on rapidly developing events, to share triumphs, and to ensure that the world heard their voices. The credit for the revolution's success goes not to social media itself, however, but rather to the courageous Egyptian people who used these new media tools so effectively. Inspired by this citizen journalism, Egyptian journalists in all types of media are now reexamining the crucial role they play in society. This is the first year that the United States has hosted World Press Freedom Day. The founders of our nation enshrined the freedoms of speech and the press in our constitution in the years immediately following our revolution, and these freedoms are at the heart of how we define ourselves as Americans. That is why it is a particular honor for our country to host this event the same year that the Egyptian people inspiringly claimed their right to the freedoms of expression and the press in their own revolution. So on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day 2011, allow me to congratulate the Egyptian people for their tremendous achievements in regard to freedom of expression, and to wish them the best of luck as they work to enshrine that freedom in their new government. Margaret Scobey is the US Ambassador to Egypt.
