News

September 17, 2025 - General -  At the 2025 World Meeting on Human Fraternity in Rome, AJ+ Managing Director Dima Khatib delivered a powerful speech condemning the complicity of global media in what she described as Israel’s genocide against Palestinians. Speaking before an international audience convened by the Vatican, Khatib urged journalists and media institutions to acknowledge their responsibility in shaping narratives that too often erase or sanitize the suffering in Gaza. Her remarks drew an immediate standing ovation, underscoring the resonance of her message. Khatib emphasized that the ongoing war in Gaza has become...

September 17, 2025 - Canada -  Radio-Canada has placed correspondent Élisa Serret on indefinite leave following controversial comments she made during a live broadcast that were widely condemned as antisemitic. The remarks came during the French-language program Sur le terrain, while Serret was reporting from Washington on U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to Israel. Asked why the U.S. continues to support Jerusalem, given clashes in Gaza, Serret stated, in French, that “the Israelis, in fact the Jews, finance a lot of American politics” and asserted they control a “big machine.” She also claimed...

September 17, 2025 - Burkina Faso -  After nearly 14 months in enforced military service, Burkinabe journalists Adama Bayala and Alain Traoré have been released and reunited with their families on 17 September 2025. Bayala, a columnist for private TV station BF1, and Traoré, known as “Alain Alain,” the editor-in-chief of Radio Omega’s national languages bureau, were abducted on 28 June and 13 July 2024, respectively. Their disappearance sparked concerns among press freedom advocates, who maintained that both were forcibly conscripted into the armed forces. While Bayala’s conscription was formally acknowledged by the Justice Ministry...

September 17, 2025 - Czechia -  The Czech National Committee of the International Press Institute (IPI) has unveiled a new platform aimed at improving safety for journalists and media professionals. Called “Safe Journalism,” the initiative provides a secure way for journalists to report incidents of harassment, threats, or attacks, and to access legal and psychological support. The platform is designed to fill an urgent gap in protections for journalists amid rising challenges, both online and in person, including verbal abuse, legal intimidation, and mental health strains. Users will be able to log incidents that threaten...

September 17, 2025 - China -  China is set to try journalist Zhang Zhan this week in Shanghai on charges widely viewed as politically motivated. The trial is scheduled for 19 September at the Pudong New Area People’s Court at 9 a.m. local time. Zhang, once a lawyer and citizen reporter, first rose to prominence covering the early COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, posting over 100 videos documenting what some say were abuses and mismanagement of the crisis. She was arrested on 14 May 2020, sentenced to four years in prison, and released in 2022. Her...

September 17, 2025 - Kenya -  Habil Onyango, a reporter with People Daily, was abducted, severely assaulted, and had his belongings damaged after publishing an article exposing alleged fraud in hiring practices at the Homa Bay County Public Service. The journalist says the sequence of events began after the story revealed that a county employee was receiving letters falsely purporting to come from the county public service board. Those letters were part of what Onyang o calls an irregular hiring scheme. According to Onyango’s account, goons allegedly hired by a senior Human Resources (HR) officer...

September 17, 2025 - Kyrgyzstan -  A court in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, has sentenced two former video editors of the independent Kloop media outlet—Zhoomart Duulatov and Alexander Alexandrov—to five years in prison on charges of spreading false information and undermining public order.The pair were detained on May 28, 2025, during a broader operation that included raids on the homes of current and former Kloop staff. Equipment was seized. Their prosecution is widely seen by rights groups as part of a pattern of increasing pressure by authorities on independent journalism. According to Kloop and defense lawyers, the...

September 17, 2025 - USA  -  The National Press Club (NPC) has urged the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to withdraw a proposed regulation that would restrict visas for foreign journalists, warning that the change poses a serious threat to press freedom and could endanger U.S. journalists abroad. The proposal seeks to eliminate the current “duration of status” rule, which allows foreign correspondents to remain in the country as long as their assignments last, and instead impose fixed visa terms—240 days for most reporters and only 90 days for journalists from China. NPC President...

September 17, 2025 - Haiti -  Guyler C. Delva, a prominent Haitian journalist and secretary general of the press freedom organisation SOS Journalistes, says that his advocacy in defense of Haiti’s embattled journalists has made him the target of threats, harassment, and political hostility. In recent weeks, he has alleged that powerful actors—including figures linked to the Transitional Presidential Council—have increased pressure on him in response to his public defense of persecuted media workers. Delva holds multiple roles: beyond leading SOS Journalistes (founded in 2005), he is also vice chair of the Inter-American Press Association’s...

September 17, 2025 - Denmark -  Danish photojournalist Thomas Sjørup has announced his readiness to testify about the crimes committed by Serbian forces during the war in Kosovo, underscoring his role not only as a documentarian of conflict but also as a witness prepared to speak in legal or historical settings. Speaking in Pristina while presenting his book “Kosovo at War”, Sjørup reflected on his experiences covering the conflict and the close bond he developed with Kosovo’s people during one of the darkest chapters in the region’s history. Sjørup recalled how ordinary Albanians welcomed him...

September 16, 2025 – Yemen/Palestine- A Yemeni expert has accused Israel of deliberately targeting journalists and media outlets in Yemen in what he calls “Gaza-style raids,” following airstrikes on the offices of two prominent newspapers: 26 September and Yemen. These attacks reportedly killed 32 journalists and media staff. Abdulrahman Rajeh, a Yemeni journalist and analyst, described the strikes as a grave violation of international law. He emphasized that the targeted buildings were civilian locations, housing media workers who were performing professional duties, and had no military function. The attack, he argues, constitutes a war crime...

September 16, 2025 - Palestine -  A United Nations commission of inquiry has declared that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, citing four of the five genocidal acts defined under international law. In its latest 72-page report, the commission found reasonable grounds to conclude that Israeli forces carried out killings, inflicted serious bodily and mental harm, deliberately imposed destructive conditions of life, and prevented births. These findings were backed by analysis of official statements, including incendiary remarks from Israeli leaders, and a documented pattern of conduct during the war that began on 7...

September 16, 2025 - USA Local journalism in Pennsylvania is at a crossroads a moment that demands attention, support, and action. In a recent reflection, The Spotlight PA-LebTown collaboration outlines how independent, non-partisan journalism is crucial for government accountability, truth, and democracy. They warn that without sufficient resources, journalism that holds power to account risks disappearing. Spotlight PA, founded in 2019, has already shown the impact non-profit investigative reporting can have: saving taxpayers more than $20 million, prompting 36 policy changes at local, state, or federal levels, driving 14 new laws, and securing 8 legal...

September 16, 2025 – Lebanon - Lebanese and international rights organisations are urging Lebanon’s parliament to ensure that a draft media law being debated preserves, rather than erodes, freedom of expression. The discussions, held by the parliamentary Administration and Justice Committee, involve amendments that rights groups say risk undermining key protections for journalists, public critics, and media outlets. Currently, fourteen groups including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders, and the Committee to Protect Journalists have submitted a joint appeal to lawmakers. They demand that the draft law decriminalize defamation, blasphemy, insult, and criticism...

September 16, 2025 – Belarus/Poland/Lithuania/USA - In a significant diplomatic move, Belarus has released 52 political prisoners, among them three Polish nationals and eight journalists affiliated with Belsat TV. The release comes amid continued international pressure and calls for justice for those imprisoned under the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko. The group released includes Belarusian journalists who had been detained as political prisoners, many accused of discrediting the government or participating in activities deemed “extremist” by authorities. Polish citizens were also among those imprisoned, marking another layer of international concern and involvement in their cases....

September 16, 2025 - Nigeria -  The Acting Governor of Oyo State, Adebayo Lawal, paid a condolence visit to the family of slain journalist Ojo Peter in Ibadan, promising government support and solidarity during their time of grief. The visit followed widespread outrage over Peter’s death, which reportedly occurred after he was attacked by suspected armed robbers. Lawal described the tragedy as a painful loss, noting that Peter was a promising professional who died “at his prime.” At the family’s residence in Apata, the acting governor expressed heartfelt sympathy to Peter’s wife, children, and relatives....

September 16, 2025 - USA -  Former U.S. President Donald Trump has filed a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times and Penguin Random House, claiming both organizations deliberately sought to damage his reputation through a book and several articles. The case, lodged in federal court in Florida on September 16, 2025, is one of Trump’s most aggressive legal actions against the media. At the center of the lawsuit is a book published by Penguin Random House and authored by Times reporters, titled Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and...

September 16, 2025 - General -  At the Vatican on September 15, 2025, Pope Leo XIV and Diane Foley, mother of slain American journalist James Foley, gathered with the faithful in a vigil of remembrance and healing. The event honored Foley’s life and work, while focusing on the power of forgiveness in the face of unimaginable loss. Foley, who was abducted in Syria in 2012 and brutally murdered by the Islamic State in 2014, has since become a symbol of both the dangers journalists face and the resilience of those who carry their memory forward....

September 15, 2025 – Belarus/Lithuania/United States - Ihar Losik, a 33-year-old Catholic journalist, has been freed after enduring more than five years in a Belarusian prison. His case, emblematic of the repression faced by journalists under President Alexander Lukashenko, drew international attention for its mix of political persecution, religious discrimination, and human rights violations. Losik, a contributor to Radio Svoboda, the Belarusian branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was arrested in June 2020 as authorities cracked down on dissent before the disputed presidential election. He was accused of “incitement” and “preparing to participate in riots,”...

September 15, 2025 – Africa/Palestine The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), part of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), has issued a strong statement condemning what it calls the heightened and relentless deadly attacks on journalists and media workers in Gaza. With at least 221 Palestinian journalists and media workers killed so far, the organisation demands that governments and international bodies act now to stop what it views as a systematic violation of press freedom. In their declaration, FAJ mourns the deaths of colleagues and recognises the profound trauma carried by those who remain, many...

September 15, 2025 - Palestine -  Mohammad al-Kuwaifi, a Palestinian journalist, was killed on Monday following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, marking yet another devastating loss for the press corps in the besieged enclave. According to medical and media reports, al-Kuwaifi was inside a tent erected on the roof of a house in the al-Nasr neighborhood of western Gaza when the strike occurred. The tent was being used by displaced families seeking temporary refuge after fleeing earlier bombardments. The attack left al-Kuwaifi and another civilian dead, adding to the mounting civilian toll of the...

September 15, 2025 - Palestine - Since the Israeli offensive in Gaza began in October 2023, journalists there have faced persistent efforts to discredit and endanger them. The campaign—often called “Gazawood”—employs doctored images, baseless accusations, and targeted online harassment, frequently backed by influential media outlets and government platforms. One stark example: hours after Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif was killed in a strike near Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, a photo circulated online of two other Gazan journalists, Mohnad Qashta and Mohamed al-Sharif, with a superimposed target over their faces and a call for their elimination. These...

September 15, 2025 – Crimea/Russia/Siberia - After more than six years of separation, Safiye, the daughter of Crimean Tatar journalist Remzi Bekirov, has finally reunited with her father for three days in a Russian Siberian penal colony. The meeting, in Khakassia, offered a brief but powerful respite for a family torn apart by political repression. Remzi Bekirov, a citizen journalist from Crimea, is serving a 19-year sentence under accusations of creating a Hizb ut-Tahrir cell, charges widely regarded by human rights defenders as falsified and politically motivated. His reports on repression against Crimean Tatars are...

September 15, 2025 - General -  Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Trymaine Lee has published a memoir, A Thousand Ways to Die: The True Cost of Violence on Black Life in America, which sheds light on the physical and emotional toll of covering gun violence in Black communities. At age 38, Lee suffered a near-fatal heart attack, a medical emergency he believes resulted from the cumulative stress of his career reporting on death, trauma, and loss. That moment forced him to reckon more directly with how the work had impacted him—not just as a journalist, but as...

September 15, 2025 - UK -  MI5 has formally conceded that it unlawfully acquired communications data belonging to Vincent Kearney, a former BBC Northern Ireland home affairs correspondent, during two instances in 2006 and 2009. The data in question came to light in a letter addressed both to Kearney and the BBC, with the revelation emerging as part of a tribunal examining whether journalists in Northern Ireland have been subject to improper surveillance by police and security services. Kearney, who is now the Northern Editor for the Irish broadcaster RTÉ, had worked on a documentary...