The U.S. election is less than 100 days away, with the Democratic National Convention next week marking a key news moment. As journalists are frequently at risk of being attacked, harassed, and detained while covering political events, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has engaged in a comprehensive effort to ensure that independent journalists and newsrooms across the country are prepared.
Here are tools for journalists to safely cover U.S. election events:
- Journalists covering the U.S. election should complete a risk assessment to consider the dangers they may face while on assignment.
- CPJ has dozens of safety resources for journalists reporting on the ground, including information on situational awareness, civil disorder and arrest and detention.
- CPJ’s updated legal guide can support reporters to navigate interactions with law enforcement, which was developed in partnership with the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
🔎 Read CPJ’s guide to safely covering U.S. election events
➡️ En Español: La cobertura segura de los actos electorales en Estados Unidos
This week, CPJ denounced Israel’s smears of killed Palestinian journalists with unsubstantiated “terrorist” labels and called on Israel to stop making unproven claims about journalists slain by its forces. Since the Israel-Gaza war began, Israel has used questionable and sometimes contradictory evidence to label at least three journalists killed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as members or suspected members of militant organizations.
The Global Network Initiative, of which CPJ is a member, called for Bangladesh’s new interim government to take concrete measures to investigate previous internet shutdowns and safeguard digital rights. Since July, CPJ reporting has reported on dozens of attacks on journalists covering anti-government protests across the country.
- CPJ concerned about safety of Al Jazeera Gaza reporter Anas Al Sharif after IDF comments
- CPJ signs open letter on technology-enabled political violence in Venezuela
- CPJ calls for support for Hong Kong journalists amid growing pressure, trial delays
- Vietnam sentences blogger Nguyen Chi Tuyen to 5 years in prison
- Philippine court overturns Rappler shutdown order
- CPJ urges Mongolia not to contest investigative journalist’s appeal against conviction
- South Sudan police detain journalist Sisto Germano Ohide without charge
Spotlight
As the Taliban marks the third anniversary of their return to power, CPJ calls on the international community to help halt the unprecedented destruction of Afghanistan’s media and brutal repression of journalists.
“Grave injustices are the hallmark of the Taliban’s rule,” CPJ’s Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi said on Wednesday. “The Taliban’s ruthless crackdown has pushed the few remaining media outlets in Afghanistan to the brink. The international community must stand with the Afghan people, and foreign governments should streamline resettlement processes and support journalists in exile so they can continue their work.”
Over the last year, the Taliban have detained at least 16 Afghan and foreign journalists, shut four radio and TV stations, banned a popular London-based broadcaster, and suspended the licenses of 14 media outlets. At least one of the detained journalists was severely beaten.
The Taliban have also banned the broadcast of women’s voices and announced a plan to restrict access to Facebook in Afghanistan.
The hostile media environment has driven hundreds of Afghan journalists to flee to neighboring countries where many are stuck in legal limbo, without the right to work or clear prospects of resettlement.
- Israel’s unacceptable war on freedom of information in Gaza — Le Monde
- Is Africa experiencing a protest-led revolution? — Shola Lawal, Al Jazeera
- India’s volatile Kashmir feels sting of media crackdown — Kamran Yousuf, Nikkei Asia
- Kamala Harris must speak to the press — Margaret Sullivan, The Guardian
- A study of technology facilitated gender-based violence in southern Africa — MISA