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November 22, 2025 – Malaysia –
At the 14th Global Investigative Journalism Conference (GIJC 2025) in Kuala Lumpur from 20 to 24 November, journalism professionals from across the globe united in a powerful show of solidarity to demand protection for media workers and justice for those under threat.
On 21 November, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) led a prominently staged action at the conference’s opening session. Over 1,500 participants representing more than 100 countries joined the event, holding a banner proclaiming “Journalism is not a crime” and calling for the release of over 320 imprisoned journalists around the world. In a statement read by CPJ’s Chief Global Affairs Officer Gypsy Guillén Kaiser and Asia-Pacific Director Beh Lih Yi, the group highlighted the unprecedented scale of assaults on journalists—including killings, imprisonment, and forced exile—as democracy falters and autocracy spreads.
The action underscored the urgency of united advocacy in the face of rapidly worsening conditions for media workers. As the GIJC’s launch keynote by 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa reinforced, the industry is navigating a moment of crisis in which collaboration and resilience are now lifelines.
Participants used the conference’s international platform to call on governments and the broader international community to adopt concrete measures: release arbitrarily jailed journalists, investigate attacks on press workers, dismantle systems that criminalise reporting, and ensure that the right to report freely is protected. The CPJ’s statement urged the community to “craft and replicate a playbook to stand up together.”
With the gathering drawing media professionals from all continents, the GIJC provided both a venue and a voice for press-freedom advocacy at a time when “the deadliest time to be a journalist” is now the lived reality, according to CPJ.
Reference –
CPJ leads solidarity action at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference
