Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have shifted the long-term paradigm for press freedom and journalist safety. CPJ is monitoring global press freedom violatio ns –including laws against ‘fake news,’ journalists’ arrests, and surveillance–and has issued physical and digital safety advice for members of the media working during the pandemic.
AFP photographer Diptendu Dutta works during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Siliguri, India, on April 10, 2020. (AFP)
March 9, 2023
Chinese journalist held for reporting on Wuhan COVID outbreak wishes he’d done more
February 26, 2023
CPJ, rights groups call on Bangladesh to cease harassment of Rozina Islam in public letter
October 18, 2022
Indian authorities prevent Pulitzer-winning Kashmiri journalist Sanna Irshad Mattoo from flying abroad
June 21, 2022
Chinese reporter Zhang Weihan recounts police harassment, detention in Tangshan
February 11, 2022
Hungarian government bypasses court order allowing journalists to report from public hospitals
February 2, 2022
Opinion: The dilemma facing journalists covering the Beijing Olympics
January 31, 2022
China finds new ways to intimidate foreign press, FCCC survey finds
January 27, 2022
Digital and Physical Safety: Reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022
January 27, 2022
India state assembly elections 2022: Journalist safety guide
January 11, 2022
Journalists at the Beijing Winter Olympics may test China’s tolerance for critical coverage
More CPJ safety advice:
Are you a journalist who needs help? Learn about CPJ’s Emergency Response
August 6, 2020
Freelancer Vladimir Sevrinovsky on covering COVID-19 in the North Caucasus: ‘The main misinformation I fight is from the state’
June 16, 2020
EUobserver reporter Eszter Zalan on covering the EU amid coronavirus, disinformation, and economic crisis
June 15, 2020
Journalists in Syria tell CPJ of fear of humanitarian catastrophe if COVID-19 spreads
June 12, 2020
Getty photographer John Moore on how covering Ebola prepared journalists for COVID-19
May 21, 2020
NY Times reporter Davey Alba on covering COVID-19 conspiracy theories, facing online harassment
May 18, 2020
Journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan tell CPJ of obstruction and opportunities covering COVID-19
May 12, 2020
First Draft’s Aimee Rinehart on fact-checking coronavirus misinformation
May 6, 2020
Halifax Examiner’s Tim Bousquet on covering a mass shooting in a pandemic
May 5, 2020
In Brazil, Rio’s community journalists face daily challenges informing favela residents about COVID-19
May 5, 2020
Malaysian journalist faces six years in prison over COVID-19 Facebook posts
#FreeThePress For journalists in jail, freedom is matter of life or death.Learn more »
Photo: Zmnako Ismael
External Resources
Mental health tips and resources for journalists , International Journalists’ NetworkHow journalists can work from home securely , Freedom of the Press FoundationPress freedom and government transparency during COVID-19 , Reporters Committee for Freedom of the PressMental health considerations during COVID-19 outbreak , World Health OrganizationCoronavirus: Resources for reporters , First DraftMental 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 NetworkCoronavirus Response Toolkit , National Association of BroadcastersHow journalists can fight stress from covering the coronavirus , Al Tompkins and Sidney Tompkins, PoynterCovering the Coronavirus Pandemic , Student Press Law CenterResources for Freelancers Navigating COVID-19 , Association of Independents in Radio