Today, 3 May, is World Press Freedom Day. Democracy and a free press are two sides of the same coin, and yet Nepal is now the country with the largest number of journalists behind bars. Rulers can't afford to squander the credibility of their nation's media. As we saw in the past 12 months in Nepal, a government needs citizens to trust it, but that can only happen when the independence of the media is safeguarded. It could well be that democracy is not working properly because the media is not functioning as it should. But that is no reason to put away the messenger. The challenge for democracies is to protect press freedom during a conflict, not curb it. Freedom is our only defence against destruction and hatred. We are witnessing the political evolution of our nation, and it is the media that has, in large part, helped steer it towards progress. The media doesn't just hold a mirror to society, it is the mirror. Democracy and free press must safeguard each other. You can't have one by undermining the other.