News

September 04, 2024 - Guatemala -  On the night of September 2, 2024, the home of veteran journalist Carlos Monroy, a correspondent for Nuestro Diario in Zacapa province, was struck by multiple bullets in what press freedom groups characterized as a clear act of intimidation tied to his reporting work. Miraculously, neither he nor his family was injured during the attack. Monroy specializes in covering crime and public security—a beat fraught with high risk in regions like Zacapa, where powerful local figures and criminal groups operate with impunity. The Association of Journalists of Guatemala (APG)...

September 04, 2024 - Palestine -  Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has dedicated over €100,000 to assist more than 250 journalists still working in Gaza, offering emergency aid as conditions for reporters deteriorate amid the ongoing Israeli military operations. The funding, provided in coordination with the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ), is being used to deliver vital support to journalists facing unprecedented risks, shortages, and displacement. Since the war began on October 7, 2023, at least 130 journalists have been killed in Gaza, making it one of the deadliest places in the world for the...

September 03, 2024 - Colombia - In a stark reminder of the dangers journalists face in Colombia, two armed attacks occurred within a single week in late August 2024, prompting urgent warnings from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). The incidents reflect a troubling resurgence of violence targeting the press, particularly in rural and conflict-affected areas. The most serious case involved journalist Frank Caro, a correspondent based in the department of Cauca. On August 31, Caro was shot multiple times while driving near the outskirts of Popayán. The attackers opened fire on his vehicle, leaving...

September 03, 2024 - Russia -  The Russian Ministry of Justice has officially branded Galina Timchenko, co-founder and editor-in-chief of the independent news site Meduza, as a "foreign agent," marking another effort by authorities to silence dissenting journalism. The designation, announced on September 3, 2024, accuses Timchenko of “spreading false information” about the Russian government, producing content for foreign entities, and opposing Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Timchenko, recipient of the 2022 CPJ Gwen Ifill International Press Freedom Award, now faces onerous reporting obligations under Russia’s Foreign Agents Law. She is required to submit regular activity...

September 03, 2024 - Source: IFJ -  The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the UK and Ireland, in voicing their grave concern on the apparent misuse of anti-terror legislation and consequential undermining of media freedom in the wake of the arrest of NUJ and IFJ member Richard Medhurst on 15 August upon his arrival at London Heathrow Airport. In a letter to Matt Jukes, UK Head of Counter Terrorism Policing, the NUJ and IFJ general secretaries have expressed their grave concern about an apparent crackdown on both...

September 03, 2024 - Bangladesh -  Prothom Alo’s Dhaka University correspondent Asif Himadri was physically assaulted by members of Bangladesh’s paramilitary Ansar force while covering a protest at the Secretariat Complex in Dhaka. Himadri identified himself as a journalist documenting a clash between Ansar personnel demanding job nationalization and student protestors, but that did not prevent him from being attacked. The incident occurred during widespread unrest—carefully captured in footage of the assault—while around 40 students were also injured amid the melee. A total of 388 Ansar members were later sent to jail in connection with...

September 03, 2024 - Sierra Leone -  Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned a sustained campaign of cyber-harassment and death threats against Sierra Leonean investigative journalist Dr. Chernoh Alpha M. Bah, who has been living in exile in the United States after exposing alleged government corruption. RSF highlights that these attacks—linked to his reporting on embezzlement involving high-ranking officials—remain unchecked, and the Sierra Leonean authorities have failed to safeguard his safety or allow him to return home. Dr. Bah, editor of the Africanist Press and a postdoctoral researcher at Northwestern University, has faced increasing online intimidation for more than...

September 02, 2024 - Indonesia - In a brazen move that violates labor rights, CNN Indonesia terminated up to 11 journalists and media workers on August 31, 2024, just days after they registered a union via the Ministry of Manpower (Solidaritas Pekerja CNN Indonesia, SCPI) on August 27. The terminations coincided with unjustified salary cuts that began in June, affecting on‑air and digital staff without prior consultation (AJI highlighted unilateral decisions by management). The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), together with Indonesia’s Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), SINDIKASI, and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ...

August 30, 2024 - General -  Journalists face a wide spectrum of threats in their work, from harassment and imprisonment to direct violence. Yet one of the most haunting dangers is disappearance, when reporters vanish without explanation, leaving families and colleagues without answers. Recent data from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) sheds light on the scale of this crisis, underscoring the urgent need for accountability. According to RSF’s figures compiled by Statista, at least 217 media workers have been recorded as disappeared worldwide since the year 2000. These cases...

August 30, 2024 - Russia -  The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the sentencing Friday of Russian journalist Sergey Mikhaylov to eight years in prison on “fake news” charges and calls on Russian authorities to release him immediately. “The sentencing of journalist Sergey Mikhaylov to eight years in prison on what Russian authorities label as ‘fake news’ is another sign of the Kremlin’s fear of journalists telling the truth about the 2022 civilian massacre in Russian-occupied Bucha,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s program coordinator for Europe and Central Asia. “Russian authorities should not contest Mikhaylov’s appeal and stop their prosecution...

August 30, 2024 - Indonesia -  At least eleven journalists were violently assaulted by security forces while covering a mass protest in Jakarta on August 22, 2024, prompting strong condemnation from global and national press freedom organizations. The attacks occurred during demonstrations against the controversial Pilkada Bill, a proposed electoral reform that has sparked widespread unrest. According to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the journalists were identified as the press but were still subjected to beatings, threats, and destruction of their equipment by members of both the National Police (Polri) and the Indonesian Armed...

August 30, 2024 - General -  Over the past ten years, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reports that 19 journalists have fallen victim to enforced disappearance by state actors and have yet to be found, accounting for the majority of the 32 journalists who vanished globally during this period. These deliberate abductions represent a grave escalation in the suppression of press freedom, undermining journalists’ safety and the public’s right to information. RSF defines enforced disappearance as a situation in which state agents detain individuals and refuse to acknowledge their whereabouts, effectively placing them outside the protection...

August 30, 2024 - Palestine -  The killing of Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul on July 31, 2024, in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza has drawn international condemnation and reignited concerns about the systematic targeting and posthumous discrediting of Palestinian journalists. Al-Ghoul, 27, was covering the aftermath of an Israeli strike when his marked press vehicle was hit near al-Shati camp, killing both him and his colleague, cameraman Rami al-Rifi. Their deaths brought the number of journalists killed in Gaza since October 2023 to well over 170, making it the deadliest conflict for media workers...

August 29, 2024 - Sudan -  Freelance journalist Aladdin Abu Harba, based in East Nile, Khartoum, was abducted by armed men affiliated with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on August 23, 2024, and held in an undisclosed location, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Initially, the kidnappers demanded 1 million Sudanese pounds (approximately US$400) for his release, but upon payment, they raised the ransom to 2 million pounds, threatening to kill him if additional funds were not paid. The CPJ strongly condemned this act, calling on the RSF to immediately and unconditionally release...

August 29, 2024 - Iraq - The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in collaboration with MENA Rights Group and two Iraqi civil society organizations, has submitted a detailed report to the United Nations Human Rights Council ahead of Iraq’s fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR), scheduled for 2025. The joint submission raises alarm over Iraq’s deteriorating press freedom environment and a deepening culture of impunity for crimes against journalists. The report outlines how Iraq has failed to uphold its previous UPR commitments, particularly regarding the safety and rights of journalists. Journalists in Iraq face increasing threats,...

August 29, 2024 - USA - Justice has finally been served in the high-profile murder of investigative journalist Jeff German, who was killed in 2022 after reporting on workplace misconduct in a local government office. On August 28, 2024, a Nevada jury found former Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 28 years, a rare but significant legal outcome in a country where murders of journalists often go unpunished. German, a veteran reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, had...

August 29, 2024 -Pakistan -  On August 27, 2024, Awaz TV reporter Muhammad Bachal Ghunio, aged 35, was brutally shot dead by unidentified gunmen while working in a field near his home in the Raunti area, Ghotki District, Sindh Province. The shooting took place as Ghunio, an investigative journalist, was covering reports on armed robbers (dacoits) operating in nearby riverine zones. Local authorities and his family suspect his professional reporting triggered the attack, while police have also referenced a personal feud as a possible motive. Witnesses and police noted that at least seven masked assailants...

August 29, 2024 - Source: Al Jazeera - Former public administrator Robert Telles sentenced to life after being found guilty of 2022 murder of Jeff German. A Las Vegas politician has been jailed for life for killing an investigative journalist who wrote critical articles detailing wrongdoing in the department he headed. Robert Telles, a former Democratic public administrator, lay in wait outside the suburban home of 69-year-old reporter Jeff German and then stabbed him to death on September 2, 2022. “Justice has been served,” Clark County prosecutor Steve Wolfson told reporters. “Today’s verdict should send...

August 28, 2024 - USA -  The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has welcomed the guilty verdict in the murder trial of former Clark County public administrator Robert Telles, marking a significant victory in the fight against violence targeting journalists. On August 28, 2024, a Las Vegas jury returned a unanimous verdict finding Telles guilty of first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of investigative reporter Jeff German—a veteran journalist who had exposed corruption in Telles's office—and delivered a life sentence with a minimum of 20 years before parole eligibility German, age 69, was found stabbed to death...

August 28, 2024 - China - Beijing authorities severed all forms of communication for veteran independent journalist Gao Yu, disabling her landline, mobile phone, and internet access. The disruption followed her publication of a critique of an Al Jazeera interview with Victor Gao, provoking what CPJ called a tactic of enforced isolation used to silence dissenting voices. At 80 years old, Gao found herself unable to contact emergency services, a distressing impact on her well-being. She reported having to rely on mobile data at cafés or at friends’ homes to stay connected. Telecom providers blamed non-payment, but...

August 27, 2024 - Thailand -  Duangporn Yiampop, a seasoned reporter from Thai PBS, was abruptly struck by General Prawit Wongsuwon—former deputy prime minister and leader of the Palang Pracharath Party—outside Government House in Bangkok. The attack unfolded after Yiampop inquired about Prawit’s absence from a crucial parliamentary vote, captured in a widely circulated video where he slapped her twice on the head while angrily demanding, “What did you ask?” before being escorted away by guards. The incident drew swift condemnation from media watchdogs, legal experts, and international press freedom organizations. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ),...

August 27, 2024 - Ukraine/UK -  Ryan Evans, a 38-year-old British media safety adviser working with Reuters, was killed on the night of August 24, 2024, when a Russian missile struck the Hotel Sapphire in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. A former British soldier from Wrexham, Wales, Evans had served in Iraq and Afghanistan before becoming a close-protection officer and later joining Reuters in 2022. Known for his calm demeanor and dedication, he provided safety and emotional support to journalists covering some of the world’s most dangerous assignments. The missile, believed to be an Iskander short-range weapon,...

August 27, 2024 - Bangladesh - Prominent Bangladeshi journalists Shakil Ahmed and Farzana Rupa, formerly with Ekattor TV, were detained at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. The couple, traveling with their young daughter on August 21, were arrested while attempting to fly to Istanbul. Police held them after questioning for two hours regarding allegations of inciting violence linked to a student-led demonstration that ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and reportedly caused around 100 deaths on August 5, 2024. On August 22, they appeared before a Dhaka magistrate and were placed on four days of police remand. Prosecutors accused them under Sections 302...

August 26, 2024 - Tunisia - The Court of First Instance of Tunis 1 provisionally upheld its earlier in‑absentia verdict against Walid Al‑Majri, director of the investigative news site Al‑Katiba, following his appeal. Al‑Majri was originally sentenced in January 2023 to one year in prison for “insulting” former President Béji Caïd Essebsi and the Interior Minister via Facebook posts—a conviction widely regarded as politically motivated. His initial trial, based on a 2017 complaint by the Interior Ministry, was conducted without his presence or official summons, raising serious concerns over due process. The appeal hearing has been...

September 26, 2024 - Spain -  A troubling surge in online harassment is threatening press freedom in Spain. In September 2024, the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) consortium—backed by the International Press Institute (IPI) and others—raised the alarm over a targeted campaign of digital attacks against an investigative team at La Sexta TV. The harassment was orchestrated by Daniel Esteve, CEO of eviction firm Desokupa, and involved repeated doxxing threats and broad intimidation across social media platforms, including X and Instagram. Esteve escalated the situation after La Sexta’s Equipo de Investigación aired an inquiry into...