Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic could shift the long-term paradigm for press freedom. CPJ is monitoring global press freedom violations, including laws against ‘fake news,’ journalists’ arrests, and surveillance.
CPJ News Coverage
- Journalists at the Beijing Winter Olympics may test China’s tolerance for critical coverage
- CPJ Safety Advisory: Covering the Beijing Olympic Winter Games 2022
- A press freedom crisis unfolds in Latin America
- China’s Olympic press freedom pledges: Worthless in 2008, absent in 2022
- Mozambique police beat and detain journalists covering demonstrations
- Protesters against Slovenian COVID-19 response and vaccination storm headquarters of RTVS broadcaster
- Iranian journalists remain vulnerable in exile, says formerly imprisoned columnist Nejat Bahrami
- Cambodian reporter Khou Piseth detained for criminal incitement
- CPJ joins statement calling on Kyrgyz authorities to investigate death of journalist Azimjon Askarov
- Ethiopia elections 2021: Journalist safety kit
CPJ Safety Advisory: in your language
More safety advice:
- Digital security during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Covering U.S. protests against coronavirus lockdowns
- Editor’s checklist: Preparing for COVID-19 assignments
More safety questions? Ask a CPJ expert
CPJ’s safety experts provide information and support to all journalists, including freelancers and media workers, around the world. They host free information sessions with individual journalists or newsrooms on risk assessment, physical safety, and digital security. Please complete one of the forms below.
Coronavirus Q&A
- Freelancer Vladimir Sevrinovsky on covering COVID-19 in the North Caucasus: ‘The main misinformation I fight is from the state’
- EUobserver reporter Eszter Zalan on covering the EU amid coronavirus, disinformation, and economic crisis
- Journalists in Syria tell CPJ of fear of humanitarian catastrophe if COVID-19 spreads
- Getty photographer John Moore on how covering Ebola prepared journalists for COVID-19
- NY Times reporter Davey Alba on covering COVID-19 conspiracy theories, facing online harassment
- Journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan tell CPJ of obstruction and opportunities covering COVID-19
- First Draft’s Aimee Rinehart on fact-checking coronavirus misinformation
- Halifax Examiner’s Tim Bousquet on covering a mass shooting in a pandemic
- In Brazil, Rio’s community journalists face daily challenges informing favela residents about COVID-19
- Malaysian journalist faces six years in prison over COVID-19 Facebook posts
#FreeThePress
For journalists in jail, freedom is matter of life or death.
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Photo: Zmnako Ismael
External Resources
- Mental health tips and resources for journalists, International Journalists’ Network
- How journalists can work from home securely, Freedom of the Press Foundation
- Press freedom and government transparency during COVID-19, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
- Mental health considerations during COVID-19 outbreak, World Health Organization
- Coronavirus: Resources for reporters, First Draft
- Mental health experts offer counsel on staying calm during coronavirus pandemic, Joel Achenbach, The Washington Post
- Media ethics, safety and mental health: reporting in the time of Covid-19, Ethical Journalism Network
- Coronavirus Response Toolkit, National Association of Broadcasters
- How journalists can fight stress from covering the coronavirus, Al Tompkins and Sidney Tompkins, Poynter
- Covering the Coronavirus Pandemic, Student Press Law Center
- Resources for Freelancers Navigating COVID-19, Association of Independents in Radio
COVID-19 Emergency Funds for Journalists
The following funding opportunities are available to journalists struggling due to COVID-19.
- Fund for Investigative Journalism: The Fund for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) is offering emergency grants for U.S. freelancers who are reporting on the coronavirus, particularly around stories that break new ground and expose wrongdoing. The average grant will be around $5,000, but can be as high as $10,000.
- IWMF: The International Women’s Media Foundation has created a Journalism Relief Fund with grants up to $2,000 for women-identifying journalists who face significant financial hardship, lost work, were recently laid off or who urgently need assistance.
- Microloans for Journalists: A group of four journalists created Microloans for Journalists for fellow journalists who have been laid off, furloughed, or had their hours reduced. Journalists can apply for an interest-free $500 loan, agreed to be paid back within one year. The money will come from other journalists who have donated to the fund. Learn more and apply here.
- National Geographic: The COVID-19 Emergency Fund will distribute support ranging from $1,000–8,000 for local coverage of the preparation, response, and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund is open to writers, photographers, videographers, audio journalists, cartographers, filmmakers, and data visualization experts.
- Press Freedom Defense Fund. The Press Freedom Defense Fund is distributing grants of up to $1,500 each to journalists currently working in any medium; or journalists who were employed within six months of applying for assistance, who have experienced financial hardship as a direct result of COVID-19. Journalists can apply for grants from June 29 and can find out more here.
- Women Photograph: For now, all donations to Women Photograph go toward an Emergency Fund for independent women and non-binary photographers impacted by COVID-19.