News

September 24, 2025 - Myanmar -  Border News Agency journalist Mu Dra was forcibly taken from her home in Maungdaw, Rakhine State, on 20 September, in a reported abduction carried out by Myanmar’s Arakan Army (AA), according to statements from the news agency and CPJ. She was taken in the late morning—around 11:00 a.m.—and remains held incommunicado at an intelligence office controlled by the AA. Mu Dra is known for her reporting on conflict, human rights abuses, and issues affecting vulnerable groups in Rakhine State, including forced recruitment and intercommunal violence. The Border News Agency...

September 24, 2025 - Ireland -  In a newly released independent review, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has been found to have searched journalists’ phone numbers in efforts to trace information leaks by officers or staff—though the practice was not deemed “widespread or systemic.” The review, conducted by barrister Angus McCullough KC, was commissioned by Chief Constable Jon Boutcher. It scrutinised PSNI surveillance practices between 2011 and 2024, including how warrants were obtained, covert monitoring, and data searches related to journalists, lawyers, and individuals of “special status.” McCullough’s findings reveal 21 instances in...

September 23, 2025 - Egypt/UK -  British-Egyptian activist and journalist Alaa Abd el-Fattah has been released from prison following a presidential pardon granted by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. His reunion with his mother, Laila Soueif, and sister Sanaa Seif took place late on 22 September. Abd el-Fattah had spent much of the past decade in custody, with his most recent detention beginning in 2019 over charges including “spreading false news.”  His case drew repeated national and international criticism, with UN experts deeming his detention arbitrary under international human rights law. Reporters Without Borders (RSF)...

September 23, 2025 - General -  In a riveting episode of Conversations, journalist Nick McKenzie recounts how he took on Ben Roberts-Smith, one of Australia’s most decorated soldiers, in a saga spanning years of investigation, litigation, and public reckoning. McKenzie and fellow reporter Chris Masters followed rumors emerging in 2017 about executions, cover-ups, and misconduct within the Special Air Service (SAS)—Australia’s elite military unit. reporting uncovered allegations of war crimes, intimidation, and abuse, catapulting them into what was later dubbed “the defamation trial of the century.” As the legal battle unfolded, McKenzie and Masters’ defense...

September 23, 2025 - Nepal -  Across South Asia and Gaza, the act of journalism has shifted from observation to confrontation, where reporters not only document turmoil but become frontline casualties in battles over narrative, survival, and power. In Bangladesh and Nepal, recent Gen Z-led protests have exposed journalists to attacks from multiple directions. Security forces have infiltrated newsrooms, coerced coverage directives, and threatened reporters to silence dissenting coverage. Meanwhile, protestors have accused the media of aligning with authorities, leaving correspondents trapped in a no-win dynamic: too critical and they are branded traitors, too cautious...

September 23, 2025 - Iran -  Journalist and women’s rights activist Jina Modarres-Gorji has been released from Sanandaj Central Prison after completing her prison term, following a high-profile case tied to Iran’s protests and press repression. Modarres-Gorji was initially arrested in November 2024 and subsequently sentenced by an appeals court to 16 months in prison for “forming an illegal group with the intent to overthrow the state” and one year for “propaganda against the state.” She was acquitted of “collaboration with hostile groups and governments.” Her original sentence had been much harsher: a Revolutionary Court...

September 23, 2025 - Peru -  Bogotá, September 23, 2025 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Peruvian authorities to launch a full investigation into violent attacks against 16 journalists covering anti-government protests in Lima on September 20 and 21. The press advocacy group urged officials to ensure that those responsible are held to account, and to safeguard journalists’ rights to report on public-interest issues without fear. The incidents took place during large demonstrations against President Dina Boluarte. Police forces deployed rubber pellets, tear gas, and projectiles to disperse crowds, the National...

September 23, 2025 - Pakistan -  In a new campaign, Amnesty International highlights how Pakistani journalists routinely face heavy surveillance—both digital and physical—as part of their job, with consequences extending to their families, colleagues, and sources. The piece titled “In Pakistan, surveillance is part of the cost of being a journalist” recounts how phone tapping, location tracking, and scrutiny of call logs are used against reporters. When a journalist published a story on the military establishment, an acquaintance was forcibly disappeared for a week after being questioned about communications with the journalist. The campaign details...

September 23, 2025 - Turkey -  Istanbul, September 2025 — Eight Turkish journalists are under legal threat after being charged with “insult” and “disseminating false news” over remarks made during political talk shows. Three broadcasters from TELE1 were arrested after airing a graphic that compared President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Israel’s prime minister; they have since been released pending investigation. Meanwhile, columnists Barış Pehlivan of Cumhuriyet and Timur Soykan of BirGün stand accused of defaming the judiciary during a previous Halk TV discussion, each facing up to four and a half years in prison. Two...

September 22, 2025 - USA -  Journalists Madeline Fening and Lucas Griffith, arrested while covering a July protest opposing the detention of Egyptian journalist Ayman Soliman, are facing jury trials in Kenton County, Kentucky — a rare and alarming legal move against news coverage. Although felony rioting charges were dropped earlier, Fening still faces misdemeanor counts, including disorderly conduct, obstructing an emergency responder, failure to disperse, unlawful assembly, and obstructing a public passage. Griffith is charged with the same offenses plus resisting arrest. A coalition of press freedom groups and journalism educators has petitioned the...

September 22, 2025 - Ireland -  Northern Ireland’s Police Service (PSNI) has issued a formal apology following revelations that it failed to disclose key information about surveillance operations targeting journalist Barry McCaffrey to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT). The oversight came to light via a review led by Angus McCullough KC, which found that PSNI neglected to reveal an authorisation for incoming call data, in addition to outgoing call and subscriber data already under discussion. McCullough’s inquiry also uncovered that PSNI retained data seized in 2018 from devices belonging to McCaffrey and colleague Trevor Birney...

September 22, 2025 - Pakistan -  Senior journalist and TV anchor Imtiaz Mir, known for hosting the current affairs show “Aaj Ki Baat with Imtiaz Mir” on Metro 1 News, was critically injured in a targeted attack in Karachi’s Malir district late on Sunday. The incident took place in the Kala Board area when two assailants on a motorcycle opened fire on Mir’s car, which was being driven by his brother. One bullet reportedly struck his mouth; he also sustained wounds to his chest. He was rushed to a private hospital and is said to...

September 22, 2025 - Ethiopia -  Human Rights Watch (HRW) has expressed deep concern about a recent spike in the arrests of journalists and media workers in Ethiopia, warning that the trend poses a serious threat to press freedom ahead of the 2026 national elections. Since August 2025, at least six media professionals have been detained—some held without charge or access to legal counsel, others incommunicado. Examples cited include three journalists from Sheger FM (102.1)—Tigist Zerihun, Mintamir Tsegaw, and Eshete Assefa—arrested after a broadcast on health workers. Despite compliance with a directive from the Ethiopian...

September 22, 2025 - Iraq/Kurdistan -  The Rojava Film Commune has completed a new cinematic tribute titled Heval Birako, dedicated to the memory of journalist Nazim Daştan. The film is adapted from a story he authored. Directed by Nûman Yigît with a screenplay by Önder Çakar, Heval Birako (113 minutes) began filming on 7 August 2024 and concluded on 7 October 2024. Its world premiere is scheduled for November 2025 at the Rojava International Film Festival in Qamishlo, where it will open the festival. The narrative centers around two siblings forcibly separated by ISIS forces....

September 22, 2025 - Belarus -  Belarusian journalist and social activist Pavel Mazheika was released and deported from Belarus on 11 September 2025, as part of a broader amnesty that saw over 50 political prisoners freed. Mazheika, affiliated with Belsat TV, had been detained since August 2022. Before his release, Mazheika had been sentenced by the Grodno Regional Court in July 2023 to six years in a strict-regime prison on a charge of “assisting extremist activities.”  His jailing was viewed by press freedom groups as emblematic of Belarus’s crackdown on independent media. The Committee to...

September 22, 2025 - Palestine -  Western media’s treatment of slain Gazan journalists often does not reflect tribute or accountability, but a deliberate distancing—reshaping narratives to absolve itself of complicity. In a recent opinion piece, Nour Balousha contends Western outlets report such deaths not to honour the fallen, but to sanitize their own role in normalizing the violence. Rather than centering Palestinian lives or interrogating the structural forces that render journalists vulnerable, Western coverage frequently frames such losses as inevitable tragedies—acts of war beyond moral judgment. The underlying message: journalists who die in Gaza are...

September 22, 2025 - UK -  In Kent, a recent anti-asylum rally turned hostile toward members of the press, as several journalists became direct targets of intimidation and harassment by protesters. The demonstration, which was aimed at opposing asylum policies, quickly created a hostile environment not only for asylum seekers and their advocates but also for those documenting the event. Reporters on the ground described an atmosphere where their very presence was treated as an intrusion to be challenged. Among the more disturbing incidents, protesters deliberately attempted to humiliate reporters. One demonstrator waved what he...

September 22, 2025 - USA - Journalist Mario Guevara, a Salvadoran national and veteran Spanish-language reporter in Atlanta, now faces imminent deportation to El Salvador after a recent ruling by the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals. Guevara was arrested on June 14, 2025, while covering a protest in DeKalb County, wearing press identification. Though misdemeanor charges stemming from his arrest were quickly dropped, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) placed him in federal detention. Earlier in July, an immigration judge granted Guevara release on bond, but ICE declined to comply and instead transferred him to another...

September 22, 2025 - Tunisia -  Tunisian journalist, lawyer, and commentator Sonia Dahmani has been chosen as a recipient of the 2025 International Press Freedom Award, as announced by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The award is to be conferred at a ceremony in New York later this year, though Dahmani is expected to remain absent from the event. Dahmani’s trajectory has made her both a prominent voice and a target in Tunisia’s increasingly constrained media environment. Before her 2024 arrest, she made frequent appearances on radio and television, speaking forthrightly on political issues,...

September 21, 2025 - USA -  The Pentagon has unveiled sweeping new restrictions on journalists that critics argue amount to one of the most significant curbs on press freedom in recent U.S. history. A memo issued under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth requires reporters covering the Pentagon to sign a pledge agreeing not to publish any information—including unclassified material—unless it has been cleared for release by an authorized official. Those who violate the pledge risk having their credentials revoked. In addition to the pledge, the policy imposes new limits on reporters’ physical access to the Pentagon....

September 21, 2025 - China -  Chinese citizen-journalist Zhang Zhan, known for her reporting from Wuhan at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, has been handed a new four-year prison sentence after being convicted on the charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” Zhang’s previous four-year term, imposed in late 2020 for similar charges, concluded in May 2024. Shortly after her release, she was detained again in August 2024 and later tried in Shanghai, where Western diplomats were reportedly denied access to observe the proceedings. The renewed conviction stems from posts on social media that Chinese...

September 20, 2025 - USA - The Pentagon, under Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, has introduced a sweeping new policy requiring journalists who cover the Department of Defense to sign a pledge forbidding them from gathering, possessing, or publishing any information—even if it is unclassified—without prior authorization. In effect, reporters who do not comply risk losing their Pentagon press credentials. According to a 17-page memo circulated among credentialed media, information handled by the Pentagon “must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified.” The...

September 20, 2025 - India - Journalists in Tripura gathered at the Agartala Press Club to mark the eighth death anniversary of Santanu Bhowmik, a photojournalist who was killed in the line of duty. Members of the Tripura Journalists’ Union offered floral tributes to his portrait, recalling his contributions to journalism and the tragic circumstances of his death. Bhowmik, who worked for the local cable television channel Dinraat, was stabbed to death on 20 September 2017 while covering a political protest and roadside blockade in Mandai, near Agartala. The protest involved supporters of the Indigenous People’s...

September 20, 2025 - Yemen - An Israeli airstrike on September 10, 2025, devastated a newspaper complex in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, killing 31 journalists and media support staff. The strike hit the headquarters of the Moral Guidance Directorate, which housed the army-affiliated “26 September” newspaper along with two other Houthi-linked outlets. The attack came in the late afternoon as staff were finishing the weekly edition, ensuring the building was full and amplifying the toll. According to the Houthi Health Ministry, the overall death toll from the bombing reached 35, including a child who was visiting...

September 19, 2025 - Montenegro -  Danica Nikolić, editor-in-chief of the independent Montenegrin news outlet M Portal, has again received death threats, reigniting concerns about journalist safety and impunity. The latest violent email, sent to her work address on 10 September 2025, warns of physical harm and possible travel to Montenegro by the sender. The same anonymous individual has been targeting her since 2022. Nikolić believes these threats are directly tied to M Portal’s investigative work, particularly its reporting on corruption and organized crime in Montenegro. While the police reportedly identified the sender and a...