News

September 01, 2025 - General -  In an unprecedented international protest, over 250 media outlets across more than 70 countries simultaneously blacked out their front pages, online homepages, and broadcast programming for one day. Coordinated by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the global activism group Avaaz, this historic blackout on September 1, 2025, condemned the mounting violence against journalists in Gaza and demanded urgent protection for media workers on the front lines. The blackouts took different forms across platforms—print editions were published entirely in black with stark solidarity messages, television and radio stations paused regular...

August 31, 2025 - Bangladesh -  In a disturbing attack on press freedom, journalist Arif Samrat was violently assaulted on August 31, 2025, in Keraniganj, Dhaka. According to reports, the assault took place at Khola Mora when Samrat was stopped by a group of men while riding his motorcycle. The mob, numbering between eight and ten individuals, allegedly attacked him at the instigation of local Awami League leader Monjur Islam and his associates. During the assault, Samrat was threatened with death, leaving him injured and shaken. The attack is believed to have been retaliation for...

August 31, 2025 - Palestine -  Media organizations worldwide are gearing up for a coordinated blackout on September 1, staging a powerful and unified protest over the growing number of journalists killed in Gaza and the restrictions on press access. The campaign calls on outlets globally to shutter their front pages, websites, and broadcasts in solidarity. This media blackout is being organized by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Avaaz, and the International Federation of Journalists, with support from a broad coalition of outlets including Al Jazeera, The Independent, +972, Local Call, The Intercept, Mediapart, L’Humanité, Forbidden...

August 31, 2025 - Palestine - The Global Sumud Flotilla, the largest-ever civilian maritime convoy aiming to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, began setting sail in late August and early September 2025. Over 50 vessels carrying humanitarian aid and international activists departed from Mediterranean ports including Barcelona, Genoa, Sicily, and Greece, converging toward Gaza. Later, additional departures were planned from Tunisia. The flotilla—coordinated by a coalition of civil society organizations including the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, Global Movement to Gaza, Maghreb Sumud Flotilla, and Sumud Nusantara—seeks to deliver food, water, and medical supplies while opening...

August 31, 2025 - Nigeria -  The Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Kayode Opeifa, has issued a public apology to the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), FCT Council, following a widely criticised incident involving the harassment of a Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) reporter. The apology comes after mounting pressure and condemnation from journalistic bodies and the public. The incident in question occurred on August 27, 2025, when Ladi Bala, Transport Correspondent for NTA and former President of the Nigerian Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), was covering the aftermath of the Abuja–Kaduna train derailment....

August 31, 2025 - Nigeria - The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Council has strongly denounced the alleged harassment and intimidation of Ladi Bala, a transport correspondent for the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and former president of the Nigerian Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), by Kayode Opeifa, Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC). The incident took place on August 27, 2025, as Bala was covering the aftermath of a train derailment along the Abuja–Kaduna rail line. According to a statement by NUJ FCT Secretary Jide Oyekunle, Opeifa disrupted Bala’s live reporting,...

August 31, 2025 - USA -  Recently, there has been a sweeping restructuring at the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), Voice of America’s (VOA) parent body, under acting CEO Kari Lake, resulting in the elimination of more than 500 full-time positions, primarily affecting VOA staff. Kari Lake announced a reduction-in-force (RIF) that would terminate 532 government positions, and terminate over 500 roles at VOA specifically, citing the need to shrink federal bureaucracy and cut spending. Notices were sent late on a Friday ahead of the Labor Day weekend, with termination effective by September 30....

August 31, 2025 - India -  Deep Saikia, a journalist with Nagaland-based Hornbill TV, was seriously injured on Saturday evening while covering the Zinnia (or Cherry Blossom) Flower Festival in Laii (Lair) village, located in Manipur’s Naga-majority Senapati district. The assailant, armed with an air gun, opened fire, striking Saikia in the right leg and underarm. The gunman was intercepted by villagers and handed over to the police alongside the weapon. Initially treated at the Senapati district hospital, Saikia was later transferred to Dimapur, Nagaland, for further medical care. According to local reports, his condition was...

August 31, 2025 - Palestine -  The conflict in Gaza has reached a crisis point for local journalists and fixers, whose numbers of casualties now far exceed those of foreign correspondents. Often underpaid, undervalued, and ill-equipped, these media professionals are bearing the brunt of the violence as news coverage in the region relies increasingly on them, with deadly consequences. Foreign journalists have largely been barred from entering Gaza, forcing this fraught reporting burden onto Palestinian journalists. While international outlets are the primary sources that broadcast global coverage, they depend on local reporters to gather and...

August 30, 2025 - Venice/Palestine -  The 82nd Venice International Film Festival, held from August 27 to September 6, 2025, has unfolded amid deep political tensions, with growing calls for solidarity with Palestinians dominating the cultural landscape. A major highlight was a mass pro‑Palestine protest, with thousands marching through Venice during the festival to demand that the Biennale take a stand against what they describe as the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Demonstrators carried Palestinian flags and banners reading “Free, Free Palestine,” aiming to use the festival’s global visibility to amplify their message. Earlier in the week, pressure...

August 30, 2025 - Palestine -  In a poignant display of unity and grief, Israeli and Palestinian activists gathered in Nazareth on August 30, 2025, bearing blue-and-white “Press” insignia stickers. The demonstrators, including those directly impacted by the conflict, marched for peace and justice in Gaza, urging protection for journalists and echoing their demand with banners reading “Don't assassinate the truth.” Empty pots were banged during the protest to symbolize the hunger ravaging Gaza. This dramatic public expression of solidarity was sparked by the death of 33-year-old freelance photojournalist Mariam Dagga, killed along with four...

August 30, 2025 - South Korea - Hundreds of South Koreans and Palestine solidarity supporters gathered on August 30, 2025, in Seoul, staging a protest outside the Israeli Embassy. Demonstrators condemned the recent bombing of a Gaza hospital on August 25, which resulted in the targeted killing of journalists as well as more than a dozen other victims. The gathering decried the attack as emblematic of a broader pattern of violence and genocide. Organizers and activists—advocating for global solidarity with Gaza—branded the hospital strike not as collateral damage but as a deliberate assault on press...

August 30, 2025 - India -  Nearly nine years after the brutal 2016 assassination of veteran journalist Rajdev Ranjan, a Special CBI Court in Muzaffarpur delivered a long-awaited verdict on August 30, 2025. Ranjan—then the Siwan bureau chief for a prominent Hindi daily—was fatally shot on May 13, 2016, in broad daylight while returning from a hospital visit. His killing sparked widespread outrage and prompted demands for a thorough investigation. The CBI took over the probe, navigating a politically charged atmosphere, notably due to suspicions surrounding influential RJD strongman and former Siwan MP Mohammad Shahabuddin, who was...

August 30, 2025 - Palestine -  A photo of Gazan photographer Anas Fteiha at work—capturing civilians waiting for food at a humanitarian distribution site—ignited uproar in Germany. Published by outlets including Bild and Süddeutsche Zeitung in August 2025, the image was accused of being "staged" or used as Hamas propaganda. However, a careful analysis by the fact-checking site Snopes found that the scene was genuine: the subjects were indeed receiving aid from a verified charity, as omitted in the initial reports. Despite this refutation, the initial allegations placed Fteiha in harm’s way, forcing him to...

August 30, 2025 - El Salvador -  Over the past five years, El Salvador has plummeted 61 places in the Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index, now ranking 112th out of 180 countries. Under President Nayib Bukele’s increasingly authoritarian administration, women journalists report mounting gender-based online abuse, much of it directed by pro‑Bukele accounts, even as independent media outlets are driven into exile. A journalist speaking anonymously to Latin Times detailed relentless digital harassment throughout Bukele’s tenure—“non‑stop” misogynistic and sexually explicit attacks. These often included offensive remarks about their appearance, personal attacks on their families, and...

August 30, 2025 - Mozambique - Ahead of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances (August 30), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and MISA Mozambique issued a joint call urging authorities to clarify the fate of two missing journalists—Ibraimo Abú Mbaruco and Arlindo Chissale, whose disappearances remain unresolved and distressing for their families. Arlindo Chissale, editor of the news website Pinnacle News, vanished on January 7, 2025, when a group of eight men—some wearing national security and defense uniforms—ordered him off a public minibus in Silva Macua. Since that day, he has...

August 29, 2025 - Croatia/Palestine -  The Trade Union of Croatian Journalists (SNH) and the Croatian Journalists’ Association (HND) rallied support from fellow labor organizations and the broader public in a powerful protest against the genocide in Gaza and the targeted killings of over 240 Palestinian journalists. The action drew participants to demonstrate their commitment to truth and media freedom amid an escalating humanitarian crisis. In their joint statement, the SNH invoked the vital role of unions in responding to grave injustices, insisting that journalists cannot remain silent while such crimes unfold. Maja Sever, SNH’s...

August 29, 2025 - Palestine -  Palestinian journalists in Gaza are enduring a harrowing reality—where survival feels like a lottery. As Nour Swiriki, a 37-year-old reporter for El Sharq TV, puts it, “today is not your turn... your turn might be tomorrow or after tomorrow.” Her words capture the fear haunting media professionals who continue to document life amidst relentless Israeli bombardment. According to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), Israel has so far killed 240 of their colleagues, making this the deadliest stretch for journalists in Gaza in modern times. Swiriki describes devastating losses among...

August 29, 2025 - Philippines - As the Philippines marks its National Press Freedom Day on August 30, 2025, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and a coalition of press freedom organizations are urgently calling for the release of Frenchie Mae Cumpio, the country’s only journalist currently detained. Cumpio has been held for five years without conviction, facing charges that critics say are based on fabricated evidence, such as allegations of illegal firearms possession. Cumpio, 26, formerly served as executive director of the independent outlet Eastern Vista and hosted a community radio program in Tacloban covering issues like...

August 29, 2025 - Palestine -  Deutsche Welle (DW) Director-General Peter Limbourg has strongly condemned the “unacceptable” attack on DW journalists in the occupied West Bank, calling such hostility toward press representatives “absolutely unjustifiable.” The targeted incident occurred in the village of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, where a DW correspondent and their cameraman—clearly identifiable by their press vests—were attacked by radical Israeli settlers. Stones were hurled, and they were chased in a violent assault on media freedom. Despite managing to escape unharmed, their vehicle sustained significant damage. DW, alongside the German Journalists’ Association (DJV) and...

August 29, 2025 - Peru -  At the conclusion of a well‑intended congressional discussion on an Amnesty Law, journalist Katherine Ayarza, from the news outlet Epicentro, became the target of a troubling incident. The event on August 26, organized under the Democratic Tuesday initiative by Peru’s Congressional Citizen Participation Office, was meant to foster civic dialogue. Instead, it ended with a disconcerting attack directed at a media professional. As the session wrapped up, a group of attendees aggressively encircled Ayarza. Over shouts and demeaning remarks intended to undermine her work, they forcefully knocked her cellphone...

August 29, 2025 - Palestine -  Two successive Israeli strikes hit Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza, killing at least 20 people, among them five journalists—Reuters contractor Hussam al‑Masri, Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Salama, AP freelancer Mariam Abu Dagga, freelance video journalist Moaz Abu Taha, and reporter Ahmed Abu Aziz. Human rights groups and legal experts condemned the “double tap” nature of the strikes—targeting the hospital then striking again as first responders and journalists arrived—as a serious violation of international law. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urgently called for a complete and independent investigation into the killings. CPJ criticized Israel’s initial military...

August 29, 2025 - Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia is intensifying its efforts to cultivate a new generation of environmental journalists as part of its broader push to achieve the sustainability objectives outlined in Vision 2030. The initiative is led by the National Center for Environmental Compliance (NCEC), which has emphasized the urgent need for skilled reporters who can interpret complex ecological issues, raise awareness, and connect public opinion with policymaking processes. According to Saad Al-Matrafi, NCEC’s executive director of media and communication, environmental journalists must go beyond standard news reporting. He explained that they...

August 29, 2025 - Palestine -  A rights group has revealed a sharp uptick in the detention of Palestinian journalists by Israeli occupation forces, underscoring deepening restrictions on press freedom amid escalating conflict. According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS), as of August 29, 2025, a total of 55 Palestinian journalists are currently held in Israeli prisons. Among them, 50 were arrested since the onset of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, including one female journalist. Further clarifying the detention landscape, a July 2, 2025, report by PPS noted that 22 of those journalists are being...

August 29, 2025 - Azerbaijan -  Azerbaijani authorities have intensified their pressure on independent media with the arrest of photojournalist Ahmed Mukhtar, who has become the 12th individual detained under the wide-ranging investigation into the so-called “Meydan TV case.” His detention has drawn sharp concern among press freedom advocates, who view it as part of a broader effort to silence dissenting voices and intimidate media workers in the country. Mukhtar was arrested in Baku and placed under 40 days of pretrial detention by the Khatai District Court. The charges against him have not been publicly...