Attendance for the World Press Freedom Day conference in Washington this week was the largest in the event's almost 20-year history, with more than 800 participants.

Around the world, social media has empowered ordinary citizens to tell stories from their own perspectives.

Authoritarian regimes, which have long cracked down on journalists, are now turning to digital media to restrict press freedom.

This year’s World Press Freedom Day conference, held for the first time in the United States, kicked off Sunday evening to a standing-room-only crowd at the Newseum, Washington’s museum of news. Opening speakers honored fallen journalists and emphasized how new media have opened information channels while also triggering tighter limitations on freedom of expression.