News

January 23, 2026 - Philippines - Fifteen years after the assassination of Filipino environmental journalist and broadcaster Gerardo “Gerry” Ortega, his family and press freedom advocates continue to press for full accountability, describing the prolonged legal delays as emblematic of entrenched impunity in journalist killings in the Philippines. Ortega’s murder in January 2011 remains among the country’s most symbolic unsolved attacks on media freedom. Ortega, who hosted a widely-heard radio programme in Palawan and became known for exposing environmental destruction, corruption, and political patronage, was fatally shot outside a second-hand clothes shop in Puerto Princesa...

January 23, 2026 - Slovakia - Slovakia’s long-running quest for justice in the 2018 assassination of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kusnirova, has entered another complex phase, with a third retrial of the alleged mastermind, businessman Marián Kočner, approaching amid deep concerns about persistent impunity in crimes against journalists. Kuciak’s murder — which shocked Slovakia, triggered mass protests and contributed to a political crisis — remains only partially resolved years later. Kuciak, a reporter for Aktuality.sk known for exposing corruption and connections between political and business elites, was shot dead in February...

January 23, 2026 - Malta - A Maltese court of appeal has rejected an attempt by two convicted bomb suppliers to overturn their life sentences in connection with the 2017 assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, marking a significant judicial milestone in one of Europe’s most high-profile crimes against the press. The decision, delivered in January 2026, maintains that Robert Agius and Jamie Vella will continue to serve life imprisonment for their role in supplying the military-grade explosives used in the deadly car bomb attack. Caruana Galizia, a prominent Maltese investigative journalist and blogger,...

January 23, 2026 - USA - Former CNN anchor Don Lemon, now an independent journalist, was detained but not charged in connection with an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protest that took place inside Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on January 18–19, 2026, federal court filings and multiple news reports confirm. The protest — involving demonstrators who entered a Sunday service to call attention to perceived conflicts between church leadership and ICE leadership — became a flashpoint in debates over immigration policy, protest rights, and press freedom. Lemon was present at the protest to...

January 23, 2026 - USA - A documentary chronicling the life and work of American journalist and filmmaker Brent Renaud has been nominated for an Academy Award, bringing renewed attention to his legacy and the risks journalists face in conflict zones. The film, Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud, earned a nomination in the Best Documentary Short Film category for the 98th Academy Awards, with the nominations announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on January 22, 2026. The short documentary is a deeply personal portrayal...

January 23, 2026 - Montenegro - Montenegro, a candidate for membership in the European Union, marked Journalists’ Day on January 23, 2026, with media unions and press freedom advocates warning that journalists in the country continue to face escalating threats, harassment, and unresolved attacks, even as the government underscores its aspirations for deeper European integration. The commemoration drew attention to both symbolic achievements and persistent challenges confronting media professionals in the Balkan nation. At the event, representatives of Montenegrin journalist associations highlighted a string of security concerns and threats against reporters and media workers —...

January 23, 2026 - Tunisia - A Tunisian court has sentenced two well-known journalists, Bohran Bssaies and Mourad Zghidi, to three and a half years in prison on money-laundering and tax-related charges in a ruling that has drawn condemnation from press freedom advocates and critics of President Kais Saied’s government. The sentences, delivered on January 22, 2026, are seen as part of a broader pattern of legal action targeting independent media and government critics in Tunisia. Bssaies and Zghidi — both veteran columnists with backgrounds in local broadcast and written media — have been held...

January 23, 2026 - General - Despite a modest decline in the number of journalists jailed worldwide in 2025, press freedom advocates say the situation remains dire, with 330 journalists imprisoned in connection with their work as of December 1, 2025, according to a report published on January 21, 2026, by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Although this figure represents a decrease from a record 384 jailed at the end of 2024, it is still among the highest totals since CPJ began tracking such data in 1992 and reflects persistent repression and legal pressure...

January 22, 2026 - Pakistan - Press freedom organisations and media analysts have sharply criticised Pakistan’s ongoing failure to deliver justice in the murders of journalists, highlighting structural impunity that has left many killings unresolved for decades and repeatedly undermined official pledges to protect media workers. Recent investigations and reporting by rights groups underline a stark pattern: journalist murders frequently go unpunished, illustrating entrenched weaknesses in legal follow-through and political will. A new international investigation — conducted under the coalition A Safer World for the Truth, which includes Free Press Unlimited, Reporters Without Borders (RSF),...

January 22, 2026 - Canada - A landmark press freedom trial is underway in the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver, where photojournalist Amber Bracken and Canadian investigative news outlet The Narwhal are suing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) over her arrest and detention in November 2021 while covering a Coastal GasLink pipeline protest on Wet’suwet’en territory — a case that press freedom advocates say could have broad implications for journalists across Canada. Bracken, a veteran photojournalist contracted by The Narwhal, was covering tensions related to the Coastal GasLink project when RCMP officers enforcing...

January 22, 2026 - Turkey/Syria - Turkish authorities detained six journalists on January 21, 2026, in the Nusaybin district of Mardin province as they were reporting on a protest against a Syrian government offensive into Kurdish-held northeastern Syria near the Turkey–Syria border, according to press freedom monitors and local journalist associations. The detentions reflect growing pressure on the media in Turkey amid tensions surrounding the Kurdish issue and protests spilling over from neighbouring conflicts. The journalists were taken into custody after police intervened to break up a march organised in solidarity with Kurdish groups in...

January 22, 2026 - Palestine - Three Palestinian journalists were killed on January 21, 2026, when an Israeli airstrike struck a vehicle they were using while documenting civilian displacement and humanitarian conditions in central Gaza, health officials and press freedom groups reported. The deaths occurred despite an existing ceasefire, underscoring the persistent dangers faced by reporters covering the conflict and the serious risks confronting media professionals in the densely populated territory. Gaza’s civil defence agency identified the journalists as Mohammed Salah Qashta, Abdul Raouf Shaat, and Anas Ghneim, noting that at least 11 Palestinians were...

January 21, 2026 - Lebanon - Eight journalists were wounded on January 21, 2026, when Israeli airstrikes struck several villages and towns in southern Lebanon while they were covering the unfolding bombardment, according to Lebanese health officials and state media. The incident occurred despite an existing ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah brokered in November 2024, highlighting persistent insecurity along the Lebanon–Israel border and ongoing risks for reporters in the region. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israeli warplanes targeted buildings in Qennarit, Jarjouaa, and Kfour, with additional strikes in Kharayeb and Ansar following evacuation...

January 21, 2026 - Pakistan - Despite repeated assurances from Pakistani authorities to strengthen protections for journalists and prosecute those responsible for crimes against them, impunity for journalist murders remains pervasive, according to a new international investigation by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Free Press Unlimited (FPU), and Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The case of slain reporter Shan Dahar — unsolved more than a decade after his killing — underscores the systemic failures in investigations and lack of political will that continue to leave perpetrators free and families without justice. Shan Dahar, a Pakistani...

January 21, 2026 - Cuba - Henry Constantín, an independent Cuban journalist and director of the digital outlet La Hora de Cuba, was released on January 16, 2026, after spending 44 hours in detention without formal charges or explanation in Havana, according to multiple reports. His disappearance and subsequent release have drawn renewed attention to the treatment of independent media workers in Cuba amid heightened political tensions. Constantín was detained by State Security agents on January 14 during a heavy police presence tied to the funeral of 32 Cuban soldiers killed in Venezuela, an event...

January 21, 2026 - France/Turkey - French journalist Raphaël Boukandoura was released without charge on January 21, 2026, after being detained by Turkish police earlier in the week while covering a pro-Kurdish protest in Istanbul, his lawyer and multiple news agencies reported. The case drew widespread attention from rights groups and the French government amid concerns about press freedom and the treatment of foreign correspondents in Turkey. Boukandoura, 35, who works for several French outlets including Libération and Courrier International, was arrested on January 19 while reporting on a demonstration organised by the Pro-Kurdish People’s...

January 20, 2026 - Mexico - Three journalists from the digital news outlet SinEmbargo were physically attacked and threatened on January 15, 2026, while attempting to document illegal animal sales at the Mercado de Mixhuca in Mexico City’s Venustiano Carranza borough, according to human rights organisation Artículo 19 México y Centroamérica. The incident has drawn condemnation from press freedom advocates and calls for a comprehensive investigation by authorities into the assault and threats against the media workers. The team had entered the market to record footage of the sale of birds and other species, a...

January 20, 2026 - General - Mohammed R. Mhawish, an award-winning Palestinian journalist and writer from Gaza City, has been selected as a Knight Press Freedom Fellow by the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York (CUNY), a prestigious recognition of his reporting and advocacy in conflict zones. The announcement was made on January 20, 2026, underscoring Mhawish’s contributions to global journalism and the protection of press freedom. Mhawish is widely recognised for his exceptional work documenting life in the Gaza Strip, with his reporting featured in leading international...

January 20, 2026 - Guinea - Journalists in Guinea-Bissau are facing increasing threats to press freedom following a military takeover on November 26, 2025, as the High Military Command imposed a ban on unauthorized press conferences and public statements that it says could “jeopardize peace and social cohesion.” The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has urged the junta to rescind this order, warning that it undermines freedom of expression and access to information during a period of political instability. The ban, issued on January 9, 2026, prohibits journalists and media professionals from holding press conferences...

January 20, 2026 - Philippines -  Media freedom organisations in the Philippines have renewed urgent **calls for the release of community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio, whose trial is reaching a decisive moment more than six years after her arrest in February 2020 on controversial national security charges. Cumpio’s case has attracted both local and international scrutiny as advocates question the legitimacy of the legal proceedings and the prolonged nature of her detention. Frenchie Mae Cumpio, based in Tacloban City, was initially detained alongside four civil society activists earlier in 2020 and charged with illegal possession...

January 20, 2026 - General - On January 14, 2026, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) joined a coalition of more than 30 press freedom, human rights and civil society organisations in issuing a joint appeal to Iranian authorities calling for the immediate and unconditional release of journalists, human rights defenders, civil society activists and others imprisoned for peaceful expression, journalism or protest activities amid a widening crackdown on dissent. The appeal also urged Tehran to fully restore internet and telecommunications services across the country, which have been severely restricted in connection with mass nationwide...

January 20, 2026 - Iran - Reza Abdolreza “Reza” Valizadeh, a **49-year-old dual Iranian-American journalist and longtime critic of Tehran’s security apparatus, remains in detention in **Iran’s notorious Evin Prison after being arrested on September 22, 2024, by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) during a visit to his homeland. Valizadeh’s case has drawn international attention as an emblematic example of state repression against independent journalists and dual nationals accused of vaguely defined “national security” offenses. Valizadeh had returned to Iran in March 2024 for the first time in 15 years to care for his...

January 20, 2026 - Philippines - Erwin “Ambo” Delilan, a well-known journalist and radio station manager in the Negros Occidental province of the Philippines, was arrested by police late on January 19, 2026, on charges of “unjust vexation”, provoking widespread criticism from press freedom advocates who argue the case undermines journalists’ rights and press independence. Delilan, who manages Hapi FM 104.7 in Bacolod City and contributes reporting to Rappler, was taken into custody at his home in Barangay Alicante, E.B. Magalona, after the warrant was served just before midnight, prompting immediate concern from media organisations....

January 20, 2026 - Kashmir - Several Kashmiri journalists working for prominent Indian national newspapers have been summoned by Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Police in recent days in a move that press advocates and political figures describe as an attempt to intimidate and suppress independent reporting in the region. The actions centre on coverage of a controversial police exercise to collect detailed information on mosques and their management in the Valley, a topic that has sparked political and community concern. On January 14, 2026, Bashaarat Masood, a senior journalist with The Indian Express based in...

January 20, 2025 - Palestine -  The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) has launched a new mobile application called “Raqeb” to help Palestinian journalists and human rights defenders safely document and report press freedom violations and related abuses, in response to a sharp increase in restrictions, arrests, and harassment faced by media workers in the occupied Palestinian territories. The app was unveiled on January 19, 2026, as part of broader efforts to strengthen accountability and protection mechanisms for those covering human rights issues and conflict-related developments. Raqeb — meaning “The Observer” —...