Associated Press photographer Evgeniy Maloletka points at the smoke rising after an airstrike in Mariupol, Ukraine on March 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)

World Press Freedom Day 2022

The Committee to Protect Journalists is marking World Press Freedom Day by highlighting calls for the protection of reporters covering Russia’s war in Ukraine, reminders that journalists are civilians under international law and demands to hold accountable those who target journalists around the world. (#NotATarget)

Read, watch and listen to news about what the UN General Assembly calls a day intended to act “as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom” and one for “reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics.”

News and statements

  • Journalism is a crucial part of living in a free and democratic society, CPJ president Jodie Ginsberg tells the Washington Post
  • CPJ joins nine other organizations in a statement calling on the Indian government to immediately address the rapidly deteriorating state of press freedom
  • CPJ and 10 civil society and press freedom groups call on Brazilian authorities and candidates to respect the role of the free press ahead of the elections
  • CPJ issues joint press release with four other organizations on threats to press freedom in South Africa
  • ‘Journalists caught between conflict and censorship:’ Russia’s tactics for cracking down on freedom of speech about the war in Ukraine are not unique, writes Jonathan Rozen, CPJ’s senior Africa researcher, in South Africa’s Daily Maverick
  • They’re under pressure, but they’ve kept the form alive,’ Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, tells Voice of America about the Afghan journalists who chose to stay, and report, under the Taliban’s rule
  • CPJ president Jodie Ginsberg talks to BBC World about what press freedom looks like in 2022

CPJ Emergencies Director Lucy Westcott hosts a Twitter conversation on the dangers that journalists face in covering Ukraine at 1:30 p.m. ET

Videos

Watch Truth, Lies and War — a conversation on the importance of factual, independent reporting during conflict. Based on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the attacks against journalists there in the context of mis- and disinformation, expert panelists explore critical elements and galvanize support for journalists’ ability to report freely and safely during armed conflict.

CPJ President Jodie Ginsberg talks to CNN about the rising toll that the Ukraine war is taking on reporters

Remembering the 28 journalists killed for their work in 2021

At least 7 journalists have been killed covering the war in Ukraine – these are their names and stories.