Press freedom is a pillar of American democracy. But political attacks on U.S.-based journalists and news organizations pose an unprecedented threat to their safety and the integrity of information. A new survey from ICFJ highlights a disturbing tolerance for political bullying of the press in the land of the First Amendment.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), since the war began at least 128 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and Lebanon, including some targeted by Israeli forces. The killings of journalists, who are civilians under the law, must stop, and Israel must investigate cases of journalists killed by their forces.
A Moscow court this week issued arrest warrants for ICFJ Knight Award winner Roman Anin and his former colleague, Ekaterina Fomina, both Russian reporters operating in exile.
The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) strongly condemns attacks against our partner, the Metamorphosis Foundation, an organization dedicated to strengthening the awareness and capacity of citizens and civil society in North Macedonia. Metamorphosis and its fact-checking service, Truthmeter, are the target of a widespread disinformation campaign endangering current and former employees and undermining the ability of a free press to operate in the country.
In Liberia, a country with a long and tragic history of violence against anyone who challenges power, guns did not silence journalist Rodney Sieh. Courts did.
Sieh was one of four journalists and legal experts on a World Press Freedom Day panel discussion at the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York about the growing use of “lawfare” to punish journalists and keep the truth hidden. Moderated by ICFJ Deputy Vice President for Global Research Julie Posetti, the panel explored how governments are becoming ever more sophisticated in using aspects of the law that seem to have nothing to do with journalism – tax issues, foreign funding, even protections for women – against journalists.
In a recent ICFJ event held in partnership with the Committee to Protect Journalists, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Inter American Press Association, leading journalists from across Central America discussed José Rubén Zamora’s arrest, attacks on press freedom in Guatemala and the greater region, and what can be done to help.
In reaction to the new cyber libel charge and arrest warrant brought against award-winning journalist Maria Ressa in the Philippines on January 11, the #HoldTheLine Coalition issued the following statement.
More than 30 press freedom and media development organizations met in London in advance of the Global Media Freedom Conference to call on all participating States to ensure the protection and safety of all journalists and media workers in compliance with their existing obligations and international standards.
During a panel discussion marking the one-year anniversary of the imprisonment of three Al Jazeera journalists in Egypt, ICFJ Vice President of Programs Patrick Butler emphasized the importance of freedom of the press in Egypt and around the world.
Al Jazeera’s Bahar Mohamed, Mohamed Fahmy and Peter Greste were arrested in Cairo on Dec. 29, 2013 after interviewing members of the Muslim Brotherhood, an opposition group banned in Egypt shortly after Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s takeover.
