Today, the leaders of more than 30 news organizations worldwide signed an open letter—coordinated by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) with the support of the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA)—affirming their solidarity with journalists reporting in Gaza.
“For nearly five months, journalists and media workers in Gaza—overwhelmingly, the sole source of on-the-ground reporting from within the Palestinian territory—have been working in unprecedented conditions,” the letter reads.
The signatories include outlets from Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, India, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
CPJ also joined two letters calling on the United Nations to help provide accountability in the murder of Reuters video journalist Issam Abdallah, who was killed by Israeli forces in south Lebanon on October 13, 2023. In the United States, more than two dozen House Democrats signed a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken to protect press freedom in Gaza.
Global press freedom updates
- Iraqi publisher survives assassination attempt in Baghdad
- Iraqi Kurdish journalist Omed Baroshky charged with defamation over Facebook post
- DRC journalist Lucien Lyenda attacked by armed forces while covering protest
- DRC police detain journalist Masand Mafuta, slap him, seize equipment and money
- Zimbabwe’s The NewsHawks freezes military story over fears for journalists’ safety
- Indian journalist Jyotiranjan Mohapatra attacked with sword in Bhubaneswar
- Pakistani journalist Asad Ali Toor arrested after responding to summons for questioning
- Canadian journalist arrested, charged with obstruction while reporting
- CPJ, others renew support for journalists in UK surveillance investigation
Spotlight
On February 22, French journalist Antoine Galindo, who reports for the Paris-based privately owned news website Africa Intelligence, was detained by security forces in civilian clothing in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.
Galindo was taken into custody at the Ethiopian Skylight Hotel while interviewing Bate Urgessa, a political officer with the Oromo Liberation Front, a party legally recognized in Ethiopia.
“The baseless and unjustified detention of Antoine Galindo for carrying out his legitimate journalistic duties is outrageous and Ethiopian authorities must release him immediately without condition,” said Angela Quintal, head of CPJ’s Africa program.
Read more about Galindo’s case.
Editor’s note: On February 29, 2023, Antoine Galindo was released and left Ethiopia.
Separately this week, following Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s publication of the cell phone number of The New York Times’ Mexico bureau chief’s Natalie Kitroeff during a press conference, foreign correspondents in Mexico signed a letter calling on the president to comply with the country’s Federal Data Protection Law.
Read more about this case.
What we are reading (and listening to)
- José Rubén Zamora, the fourth estate imprisoned in Guatemala: ‘I won’t give up’ — Lorena Arroyo, El País
- ‘We will find you’: A global look at how governments repress nationals abroad — Lily Sparks, Human Rights Watch
- A Sudanese journalist describes the horrors of a war she cannot cover — Hawa Rahma, The New Humanitarian
- ‘It hit me very hard’. Ján Kuciak in memories of colleagues and friends — Karin Kőváry Sólymos, Lucia Kučerová, and Tomáš Madleňák, VSquare
- The state of local news 2023: Vanishing newspapers, digital divides, and reaching underserved communities — Tim Franklin and John M. Mutz, Local News Initiative
Explore our legal resources for journalists, intended to help journalists and newsrooms better prepare for or mitigate threats of legal harassment and action.