News

May 21, 2024 - Palestine - Palestinian journalists reporting from Gaza were jointly honored with two of the world’s most prestigious press freedom awards, recognizing their extraordinary courage, sacrifice, and commitment to reporting the truth under the most dangerous conditions. The UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize was awarded to all Palestinian journalists covering the Gaza war, marking an unprecedented collective recognition of a press community. The award, conferred by an independent international jury, was given “in recognition of their courage, resilience, and commitment to freedom of expression.” Since the start of the war in...

May 17, 2024 - Syria - Syrian regime forces arrested Mahmoud Ibrahim, an editor at the state-run Al-Thawra newspaper, in Tartus after he attended a court hearing. He was detained following a Facebook post expressing solidarity with peaceful protests in Suwayda, a southwestern city where demonstrators voiced opposition to the Assad regime and economic conditions. The charges, brought under the 2022 Anti-Cybercrime Law, include “supporting an armed rebellion,” “undermining the prestige of the state,” and “violating the constitution”. Since his arrest, Ibrahim has been held incommunicado at an undisclosed location, with no updates given to...

May 10, 2024 - Palestine -  Esteemed Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed while reporting on an Israeli Defense Forces raid in the Jenin refugee camp. Wearing a helmet and press vest, Abu Akleh was identifiable as a journalist when the fatal bullet struck her head—an act widely condemned as a “cold‑blooded assassination” by her employer. In the two years since, multiple independent investigations—including by UN experts, Forensic Architecture, the New York Times, and the US State Department—have confirmed that Abu Akleh was most likely killed by Israeli forces. The IDF itself acknowledged the...

May 08, 2024 - Sudan -  26-year-old photojournalist Christopher Allen, a dual British–American citizen, was shot dead while covering conflict in Kaya, South Sudan, near the Uganda border. Distressingly, images of his disrobed and desecrated body circulated online shortly afterward—a harrowing example of the tragedies journalists face in war zones. Despite public outcry, the exact details surrounding his death and post-mortem treatment remain contested. After years of calls for truth and accountability from his family, international lawyers, RSF, and the UN, a South Sudanese inquiry committee finally published a 19-page report in March 2024—seven years...

May 3, 2024 - Niger - Since the July 2023 coup, press freedom in Niger has been under severe assault by the military-led transitional government of the Conseil National pour la Sauvegarde de la Patrie (CNSP). Amnesty International warns that journalists reporting on security, conflict, and political dissent are being openly intimidated, surveilled, and arbitrarily arrested, contributing to an atmosphere of fear and self-censorship. Among those targeted was prominent BBC Hausa correspondent Tchima Illa Issoufou, who was accused of trying to “destabilize the country.” After receiving threats and being wanted by security services, she was...

April 19, 2024 - Georgia - On the night of April 16, 2024, while journalists were reporting live from protests outside the Georgian Parliament against the proposed “Transparency of Foreign Influence” law, riot police physically assaulted at least four reporters, according to statements from CPJ and the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics. These protests, which erupted across Georgia through April and May, saw tens of thousands of citizens rejecting legislation seen as a Russian-style assault on independent media. Riot police used pepper spray, tear gas, and physical violence, targeting media personnel as well as demonstrators. According...

April 12, 2024 – Palestine - A joint investigation by ARIJ, Forbidden Stories, and global media outlets has uncovered disturbing evidence that Israeli drone strikes have killed or injured at least 18 journalists in Gaza since October 2023, many of them marked as press. The report, part of the Gaza Project, highlights how Israeli drone operations—designed for precision—are being used in ways that increasingly appear to intentionally target journalists, not protect civilians. Among the most shocking cases is that of Mahmoud al-Basos, a drone operator for Reuters and Anadolu Agency, who was killed on March 15,...

April 6, 2024 – Palestine - Al Jazeera’s The Listening Post episode “Reporting Under Genocide” offers a powerful chronicle of what it means to be a journalist in Gaza after six months of unrelenting war. With foreign correspondents largely barred from entry, the burden of documenting the conflict—and the atrocities—has fallen almost entirely on local Palestinian reporters. These journalists are not only covering a war; they are surviving it. The report weaves together first-person accounts of journalists who have endured bombings, drone attacks, the deaths of colleagues, and the destruction of media infrastructure. Many have continued...

April 03, 2024 - Palestine -  Israeli authorities have refused to release Palestinian journalist Rula Hassanein, despite urgent appeals highlighting her newborn baby’s critical dependence on breastfeeding. The case has drawn international condemnation, as human rights organizations argue that Israel’s continued detention of Hassanein violates both press freedom and child welfare standards. Hassanein, a freelance journalist affiliated with Al Jazeera Arabic, was arrested on March 19, 2024, during a wave of Israeli detentions targeting Palestinian reporters in the occupied West Bank. She was charged with “incitement” based on her social media posts—an accusation frequently leveled...

March 29, 2024 - Russia -  Four Russian journalists have been sentenced to five and a half years in prison for allegedly promoting “extremist” activity linked to the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation. The journalists — Antonina Favorskaya, Artyom Kriger, Sergey Karelin, and Konstantin Gabov — were convicted behind closed doors in Moscow in April 2025, in a move widely condemned by press freedom organizations and human rights advocates. All four journalists had previously covered Navalny’s court cases, protests, or political movement. The Russian government has designated Navalny’s organization as an extremist group...

February 11, 2024 - Jordan/Palestine - In a poignant meeting in Doha, Queen Rania of Jordan sat down with renowned Al Jazeera journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh, a man who has become a symbol of truth and perseverance in Gaza. The encounter took place during Queen Rania’s visit to Qatar for the AFC 2023 Asian Cup final, but it was her private moment with Al-Dahdouh and his family that resonated far beyond the stadium. In a heartfelt tribute shared on social media, she honored his sacrifice, writing, “Few people sacrifice so much for the truth… May God...

Feb 6, 2024 - Serbia - The Belgrade Court of Appeals has overturned the convictions of four former Serbian intelligence officers accused in the 1999 murder of journalist Slavko Ćuruvija, sparking international condemnation and fears of deepening impunity for crimes against the press. The February 2, 2024, ruling definitively acquitted Radomir Marković, Milan Radonjić, Ratko Romić, and Miroslav Kurak, citing a lack of direct and indirect evidence. The verdict is final and cannot be appealed. Ćuruvija, a prominent critic of Slobodan Milošević and publisher of the Dnevni Telegraf and Evropljanin, was shot and killed outside...

January 15, 2024 - Palestine -  The year 2023 marked a devastating milestone for press freedom, with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) recording 99 journalist and media worker killings worldwide—the highest toll since the organization began keeping records in 1992. Over 75% of these deaths occurred during the Israel-Gaza war, making it the deadliest conflict for journalists in the 21st century. According to CPJ’s February 2024 report, at least 77 journalists were killed during the war in Gaza, including 72 Palestinians, 3 Lebanese, and 2 Israelis. These figures surged in late 2023 and continued...

December 27, 2023 - Azerbaijan - Azerbaijan is undergoing a severe assault on press freedom, with a wave of arrests, prosecutions, and media shutdowns targeting independent journalists and outlets. Since late 2023, authorities have arrested more than 25 journalists, accusing many of “currency smuggling” and other economic crimes widely denounced as politically motivated. One of the central targets is Abzas Media, an independent investigative outlet known for reporting on government corruption. Its director, Ulvi Hasanli, along with several editors and reporters, was arrested and charged with smuggling. Offices were raided, equipment seized, and the team...

December 20, 2023 – Palestine - Veteran Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa was killed and correspondent Wael Al‑Dahdouh was injured during their final reporting assignment in Khan Younis, Gaza—a mission now documented by Forbidden Stories and ARIJ as part of the Gaza Project. Abu Daqqa, aged 45, and Al‑Dahdouh, both wearing marked press vests, accompanied Civil Defense rescue crews to the devastated Farhana girls’ school courtyard. Their goal: film the retrieval of an excavator stranded amid rubble. While packing up, they came under Israeli drone fire. Witnesses and first responders report Abu Daqqa was struck by at least two separate strikes,...

December 18, 2023 - Mozambique -  João Fernando Chamusse — a prominent Mozambican journalist, co-owner and editor of the independent outlet Ponto por Ponto, and frequent commentator on TV Sucesso — was found dead in the backyard of his home in KaTembe, just outside Maputo. Neighbors recounted hearing his cries for help before discovering him with a severe head wound, a machete, and a gardening hoe nearby, and two mobile phones and a laptop missing. Chamusse had earned a reputation as a courageous voice against local corruption and government mismanagement. He previously co-founded the respected...

December 13, 2023 - Palestine - As the war in Gaza continues to take a devastating toll, the Coalition for Women in Journalism has reported the deaths of eleven Palestinian women journalists, killed by Israeli airstrikes since the conflict began on October 7, 2023. Among the most recent victims are Nermin Qawwas and Hanan Ayyad, both young reporters who died in December while trying to live, work, and document the destruction around them. Nermin Qawwas, 28, a trainee journalist for Russia Today, was killed when an Israeli airstrike hit her family’s home in Gaza City....