Speaking at the World Association of Newspapers' (WAN) and World Editors Forum (WEF) conferences, Xavier Vidal-Folch, president of the WEF, called on the state to provide a safe and secure environment for its press.
As he presented press freedom award the Golden Pen of Freedom to Pakistani editor Najam Sethi, Vidal-Folch also called for an end to the impunity afforded to those who persecute journalists.
Eight journalists have already been killed in Pakistan this year and the country's authorities must adhere to international standards of press freedom, Vidal-Folch said.
"The rising militan extremism and instability in Pakistan today (...) These conditions have created enormous challenges for a functioning independent and free press," he said.
Sethi, until recently editor-in-chief of the Friday Times, has been attacked by both the government and Taliban for carrying out his work as a journalist and as a democratic watchdog: "For reporting and investigating all sides equally and for being a voice of moderation despite the continuous threats and continued dangers he faces."
Sethi, who has been imprisoned three times for his work by various Pakistani regimes, said he was one of four journalists on the Taliban's hitlist in the country. The other three have fled the country, he said.
"The nature of the threat in recent times is more extreme, the papers that I edit have been at the forefront of the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Therefore all are receiving threats," he told the gathered delegates.
The country's independent media is caught in the cross-fire between state and non-state actors, and the recent economic crisis has presented an additional threat to press freedom in Pakistan, said Sethi.
While increased literacy and the rise of the private sector have boosted advertising revenues, there has been a contemperaneous rise in pressure on editors to also act as business managers, he added.
"In order to continue fulfilling his role his newspapers must survive as a business," said Vidal-Folch in his introduction.
"Editorial freedom cannot come on the back of an empty stomach or loss of jobs. The commercial challenge must be squarely faced, editors must be managers in the modern age."
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