News

November 05, 2025 - Turkey/Syria -  A court in Istanbul has cleared seven journalists of criminal charges after they memorialised two slain reporters—Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin—who were killed in a drone strike in late 2024. The journalists had been arrested following a December 21 vigil in central Istanbul and were held for several weeks as prosecutors pressed charges including “terrorist propaganda” and participating in an unlawful demonstration. The detained journalists—among them Hayri Tunç, Gülistan Dursun, Pınar Gayıp, and Can Papila—had assembled to honour their murdered peers, only to be intercepted by law enforcement and...

November 04, 2025 - General - UNESCO has announced the sixth Call for Partnerships under the Global Media Defence Fund (GMDF), aimed at strengthening legal protections for journalists who face coordinated legal threats, including strategic lawsuits, criminal charges, and unjustified detention. This initiative invites non-profit organisations to submit proposals by January 2, 2026, with grants ranging from USD 15,000 to USD 50,000. The appeal follows a survey revealing that 68 percent of judicial actors now perceive strategic lawsuits against journalists and media outlets as increasingly sophisticated, with media lawyers citing significant barriers such as limited...

November 04, 2025 - Palestine/Italy -  Italian journalist Gabriele Nunziati of the outlet NOVA News has taken to social media to allege that Israeli authorities refused him entry into the Gaza Strip immediately after he published a report highlighting serious humanitarian conditions in northern Gaza. Nunziati says the denial followed a field investigation he conducted in early October, during which he sought to interview displaced families in Gaza’s Rafah area. He claims the Israeli liaison office cited unspecified “security concerns” as the basis for revoking his accreditation at the border crossing. According to Nunziati’s account,...

November 04, 2025 - Azerbaijan -  Imprisoned Azerbaijani journalist Farid Mehralizade has been awarded the 2025 John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award by the National Press Club of the United States in recognition of his work and his current status as a political prisoner. The award is meant to highlight journalists operating under threat and to draw attention to the continued detention of media workers in Azerbaijan. Mehralizade, an economist-turned-reporter affiliated with the independent outlet Abzas Media, was among several journalists convicted in 2024 on charges such as “illegal entrepreneurship” and “currency smuggling” after investigations into...

November 04, 2025 - Philippines -  Journalist Gary De Leon of News5 has reported that he received a serious death threat on October 27 after contacting a key whistle-blower in the widely followed “missing sabungeros” case. The threat was allegedly made by Julie “Totoy” Patidongan, the whistle-blower in the disappearance of dozens of cockfighters, according to a filing with the safety office of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP). De Leon told the NUJP that he reached out to Patidongan and his legal team for comment as part of his reporting, and...

November 04, 2025 - General -  In a stark report published to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) has documented an unprecedented surge in journalist fatalities across the Middle East and North Africa over the past two years — yet accountability remains almost absent. The report details that since October 2023, conflicts in regions such as Gaza, Syria, Yemen, and Sudan have seen extremely high casualties among media workers, many of whom appear to have been deliberately targeted. The GCHR’s analysis emphasises that...

November 04, 2025 - India -  Prominent Indian journalist and columnist Rana Ayyub has reported multiple death threats targeting both her and her elderly father, prompting the press-freedom group Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) to call on Indian authorities to provide immediate protective measures. On November 2, Ayyub received a barrage of video calls, WhatsApp messages, and phone calls from an international number that reportedly referenced her go-to residence and explicitly warned that she and her father would be killed if she did not comply with demands. According to Ayyub’s complaint filed with the Kopar...

November 04, 2025 - Modova -  Investigative journalist and TV host Mariana Rață of the independent broadcaster TV8 was issued a death threat on October 30 following a live interview with politician Renato Usatîi, according to a statement by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Rață reported receiving a series of voice messages via Facebook Messenger from a user identifying as a supporter of Usatîi’s party, claiming knowledge of her home address and warning of serious consequences if she did not alter her reporting stance. The messages identified the sender as “Boris Cerlat,” alleging he acted...

November 04, 2025 - Venezuela -  Veteran Venezuelan crime reporter Joan Camargo was forcibly taken on the morning of October 30 as he left his home in the Cotiza district of Caracas, according to multiple press-freedom groups. Witnesses say an unidentified red vehicle and a motorcycle intercepted Camargo, forced him into the car, and drove off toward an unknown destination. His disappearance comes without official explanation or confirmation of his whereabouts. Camargo, known for covering violent crime and local security issues in the Venezuelan capital, was last seen riding a motorcycle shortly before the abduction....

November 04, 2025 - Spain -  Veteran journalist José Ismael Martínez was violently targeted by a group of masked individuals while covering a protest on the campus of the University of Navarra in Pamplona on October 30. Martínez, working for the online outlet El Español and wearing a press badge, had been filming a gathering of far-left demonstrators when five or six hooded attackers surrounded him. They hurled objects, isolated him from his colleagues, cornered him, and kicked him while he was on the ground. Martínez eventually sought refuge with nearby riot police and was...

November 04, 2025 - UK/Tunisia/USA - British-Tunisian commentator and journalist Sami Hamdi, known for his outspoken commentary on the war in Gaza and pro-Palestinian advocacy, is at the centre of a diplomatic and human-rights dispute after suffering a serious health scare during his detention by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. His family and legal team say that Hamdi, 35, reported excruciating left-side abdominal pain while being held in an overcrowded cell at the McFarland, California, facility, prompting urgent medical attention only after repeated appeals and diplomatic pressure. Hamdi was detained on October...

November 04, 2025 - Palestine -  A thorough investigation by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reveals a troubling surge in restrictions placed on Palestinian journalists by Israeli authorities at the Al‑Aqsa Mosque compound during the 2025 Ramadan period. According to CPJ data, at least ten Palestinian media workers were issued exclusion orders barring them from entering the holy site, with some subjected to arrest, equipment confiscation, or indefinite bans ranging up to several months. Journalists interviewed by CPJ report being summoned to police stations under vague pretences of “threat to public order” or “undermining...

November 04, 2025 - Turkey -  Turkish authorities have blocked the social-media account of journalist Serdar Akinan on the platform X after he published posts alleging wrongdoing by a youth foundation led by Burak Erdoğan, son of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Akinan’s account was suspended under a court order citing “national-security” grounds, following his reports on the foundation’s financial links and public-contracting activities. The decision, dated November 4, came after Akinan posted documentation suggesting the youth foundation had benefited from government-linked tenders and lacked transparency in its operations. Local media lawyers say the blocking order...

November 03, 2025 - General -  An alarming trend in media staffing has sparked concern among journalism scholars, as hundreds of journalists across the United States face dismissal amid shrinking newsrooms and shifting economic models. According to an analysis shared by the media outlet, journalism professor Dr Christopher Marston warns that the wave of layoffs signals a deeper threat to the profession and to public access to reliable information. Marston points out that when so many experienced reporters lose their jobs simultaneously, the loss is not simply individual—it erodes institutional memory, undermines newsroom capacity for...

November 03, 2025 - General -  On the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) issued a strongly worded statement highlighting the escalating threats to journalists worldwide, with a particular emphasis on women reporters who are at heightened risk from technology-facilitated abuse. The statement points to the growing use of artificial intelligence, deep-fake tools, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, and coordinated online campaigns aimed at discrediting women in media. These tactics are described as not merely digital harassment but as attacks that carry significant real-world consequences. The MFC...

November 03, 2025 - Afghanistan -  A leading Afghan media rights organization has issued a stark warning that approximately ninety percent of journalist killings in Afghanistan have gone uninvestigated. The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) revealed that over the past two decades, at least 130 journalists have been killed in the country, yet investigations into the vast majority of those deaths have never been opened.The AFJC’s statement, published to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, highlights a deepening culture of impunity—particularly under the rule of the Taliban. The watchdog reported that...

November 03, 2025 - Ukraine/Russia -  A report from the Ukrainian government reveals that since the full-scale invasion by Russia began in February 2022, at least 116 journalists have been killed and 26 remain in captivity while reporting on the conflict. The figures were released by the country’s culture ministry and underscore the extreme risk media professionals face in covering one of the most dangerous war zones globally.These casualties comprise Ukrainian and international journalists who were working on the front lines or documenting occupation, shelling, aerial attacks, and rights abuses. Many of the deaths occurred...

November 03, 2025 - Colombia -  Colombia’s highest criminal court has upheld the prison sentences of two former intelligence officers linked to the psychological torture of investigative journalist Claudia Julieta Duque. The decision from the Supreme Court of Colombia’s Criminal Cassation Chamber confirms the earlier rulings against Emiro Rojas Granados, ex-deputy director of the former state intelligence agency, and Néstor Pachón Bermúdez, a former agent, for their roles in a harassment campaign targeting Duque for her reporting. As originally determined in the first and second instance courts, Rojas Granados was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment...

November 03, 2025 - Iraq -  A newly published report by the Nexîl Center for Journalist Rights and Freedoms reveals that at least 100 journalists in Iraq have been killed over the last ten years, underscoring the extreme dangers that media workers confront in the country. The study notes that among those fatalities, 30 occurred during the mass protest movement known as the Tishrin protests, yet none of the perpetrators have been publicly held to account. The Tishrin protests, referenced in the report, saw hundreds of Iraqi citizens killed and thousands wounded. In that mix...

November 03, 2025 - Qatar -  On the occasion of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, the Qatar Press Centre reaffirmed its commitment to press freedom and called on governments and international bodies to hold accountable those responsible for violence against media workers. The center emphasized that the day serves as a stark reminder that free expression remains under threat, and that many journalists around the world continue to be killed, detained, or abducted with impunity. In a statement, the center affirmed that protecting journalists is not optional but a moral...

November 03, 2025 - Ghana - On the annual International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, press-freedom advocates have pointed out the glaring absence of accountability in the 2019 killing of Ghanaian investigative reporter Ahmed Hussein‑Suale Divela. Nearly seven years after Suale was shot dead in Accra, none of the persons who directed or carried out the crime have been definitively identified, charged, or convicted, raising serious concerns about systemic impunity in Ghana’s media landscape. Suale was a member of the investigative journalism outfit Tiger Eye PI. His work focused on exposing corruption-linked...

November 03, 2025 - USA/Palestine -  In the wake of a fragile ceasefire, officials in the United States Department of State have quietly renewed pressure on the Gaza Strip embargo policy, asking Israel to permit foreign press into the territory now that large-scale hostilities have paused. Two senior U.S. officials told The Times of Israel that Washington has pushed the issue repeatedly this year, and that Donald Trump expressed readiness in August for journalists to enter Gaza, though he acknowledged the hazardous conditions. U.S. officials stress that while the request is active, it is not...

November 03, 2025 - Sudan - The takeover of the North Darfur capital El Fasher by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has exposed a severe deterioration in press freedom and journalist safety in Sudan. The takeover followed an 18-month siege and was accompanied by a communications blackout that has left many journalists unaccounted for. Local rights groups reported that at least 13 journalists went missing during the RSF’s advance and capture of the city, with some female journalists reportedly subjected to rape. Survivors describe a broader pattern of violence against civilians, including the targeting...

November 02, 2025 - General -  The global campaign for press freedom gained fresh momentum as major organizations issued urgent calls ahead of the annual International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, marking 2 November. Leading the charge, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released a list of 34 “press-freedom predators” whose actions in 2025 epitomize the erosion of media rights worldwide. These individuals and entities span categories of political, security, legal, economic, and social suppression—from state actors like Vladimir Putin and Mohammed bin Salman, to private-sector manipulators such as Elon Musk. RSF emphasizes that...

November 02, 2025 - Brazil -  In the heart of the Pantanal wetlands, veteran local environmental correspondent Lucia Ferreira has spent weeks documenting an unprecedented outbreak of wildfires that threatens one of the world’s most biodiverse regions. Her accounts go beyond flame counts and satellite images to focus on firefighters on the front line, indigenous communities watching ancestral lands go up in smoke, and the urgent question of accountability in the face of climate change. According to recent reporting by the BBC, Ferreira’s work tracks the shifting conditions in the Pantanal, which have turned historically...