In the first week of May, Patrick Penninckx, Head of the Information Society Department, had a series of meetings in New York to strengthen international cooperation on media freedom and the safety of journalists. On 1st May he took part in the Media Freedom Coalition events: MFC strategy workshop, Safe refuge for journalists, Media Freedom Coalition Year in Review: How governments and embassies have promoted media freedom. On 2nd May, he attended the Global event "Shaping a Future of Rights: Freedom of Expression as a Driver for all other Human Rights" at UN Headquarters and the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize ceremony. On the same day, he exchanged with Samantha Power on bilateral cooperation covering the "Reporters Shield to combat Law-Fare" initiative of USAID as well as the upcoming Council of Europe "Campaign on the Safety of Journalists", which will be launched on 5th October in Riga, Latvia. He equally attended the World Press Freedom Day side event on "How to build a healthier online information ecosystem and ensure access to public interest information?", organised by the New York City Bar Association, the UNESCO's World Press Freedom Day 2023 Academic Conference organised in partnership with Columbia University, and a World Broadcasting Union webinar on "Investigative Journalism and the Right to Report".

Council of Europe's stance on media freedom was highlighted by Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović in a speech at the UNESCO Headquarters on 2nd May: "States should honour the importance of free press by ensuring journalists can do their job freely and safely".