Author: Nathan

Our weekly roundup of press freedom news, highlighting the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of June 6.

Unprecedented violence against journalists covering LA protests

At least 35 attacks on journalists covering protests in Los Angeles took place since the protests started on June 6, 24 of which were conducted by security forces and law enforcement, said Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Multiple media workers reported being shot by police with “less-than-lethal munitions” such as pepper balls, rubber bullets, and tear gas canisters. An LAPD officer shot Australian reporter Lauren Tomassi in the leg with a rubber bullet while she was live reporting.

A coalition of press freedom groups and media outlets, led by RSF, has sent a letter to Los Angeles Police Chief and Sheriff urging their police forces to respect journalists while they are reporting.

More than 20 press freedom organizations, including ACLU, CPJ and PEN America, have written to Secretary of Homeland Security expressing alarm that federal officers may have violated the First Amendment rights of journalists covering recent protests.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press led a coalition of 60 news and press freedom organizations urging federal, state, and local officials to ensure that authorities responding to protests in Los Angeles are properly trained on journalists’ right to report on law enforcement activity.

More than 200 press freedom groups call for urgent access to Gaza for journalists

More than 200 press freedom organizations and media outlets, led by Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF), called on world leaders, governments, and international institutions to ensure journalists from outside Gaza are given immediate, independent access to the territory.

“For 20 months, the Israeli authorities have refused to grant journalists outside of Gaza independent access to the Palestinian territory (…) Local journalists, those best positioned to tell the truth, face displacement and starvation. To date, nearly 200 journalists have been killed by the Israeli military (…)”, the letter reads.

Our weekly roundup of press freedom news, highlighting the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of May 16.

Courage joins coalition calling on Columbia University to cease its investigations into student journalists

Courage has joined with the Student Press Law Center and 18 other journalism and free speech groups to express concern over the Columbia & Barnard “appalling treatment” of student journalists.

The coalition’s letter strongly calls on Columbia to cease any investigations against student journalists for covering protests on campus, expunge any and all student disciplinary record references to the protests for the student journalists, and guarantee protections for student journalists.

More journalists killed in Israeli airstrikes that deliberately targeted them

Israeli warplanes struck the homes of the four journalists, resulting in their deaths along with members of their families, reports The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA). An airstrike targeted the home of journalists Khaled Abu Saif and Noor Qandeel in Deir al-Balah, killing them, and photojournalist Abdel Aziz Al-Hajjar was killed in an airstrike on his home, while the body of freelance cameraman Abdel Rahman Tawfiq Al-Abadleh was recovered in the town of Al-Qarara two days after he had gone missing.

Earlier this week, Middle East Monitor has reported the death of journalist Ahmed Anwar Al-Helu, killed in an Israeli airstrike on the northwestern part of Khan Yunis. Al-Helu’s death has come hours after an anchor for Al-Aqsa Voice Radio, Hassan Samour, was killed along with 11 members of his family.

Our weekly roundup of press freedom news, highlighting the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of May 9.

Israeli drone strike kills journalist Hassan Islayeh at Nasser Hospital

After months of incitement against him in Israeli media, prominent Palestinian field reporter Hassan Islayeh was directly targeted and killed by Israeli drone while he was receiving treatment in Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, reports Middle East Eye.

Islayeh had been recovering from injuries sustained in a previous Israeli air strike last month that targeted a media tent near the same hospital. 

Three years since the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh

It’s been three years since Shireen Abu Akleh, a prominent Palestinian-American journalist, was killed by Israeli forces while wearing a blue press vest and covering a raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The newly produced documentary “Who Killed Shireen?” claims to have identified the Israeli soldier who killed Abu Akleh on May 11, 2022 as 20-year-old Alon Scagio, who was later transferred to another unit and then killed by an explosive in 2024.

According to Committee to Protect Journalists it is the first time that a potential suspect has been named in connection with an Israeli killing of a journalist, as over 22 years, IDF killed at least 20 journalists and no one has ever been charged for these deaths.

Judge orders release of Rümeysa Öztürk, Tufts student detained over Gaza Op-Ed

Tufts University PhD student Rümeysa Öztürk was released from ICE detention after a federal judge ordered her to be freed on bail, reports Zeteo.

“Her continued detention potentially chills the speech of the millions and millions of people in this country who are not citizens,” Judge William Sessions said during the hearing.

She was detained by ICE on March 25 and her student visa revoked days earlier for cowriting an op-ed urging Tufts to follow student resolutions to acknowledge genocide in Gaza & divest from companies tied to Israel.

Freedom of the Press Foundation called on the Trump administration to immediately disclose information about Öztürk’s arrest.

Our weekly roundup of press freedom news, highlighting the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of May 2.

Two Palestinian journalists killed by Israel in Northern Gaza

Two Palestinian journalists, Yahya Subaih and Nour El-Din Abdo, have been killed in separate attacks on Gaza city and eastern Gaza.

According to International Federation of Journalists and the Palestinian Journalistic Syndicate, at least 129 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed since the beginning of Israel’s assault on Gaza.

English police extend terrorism investigation against Richard Medhurst

Independent journalist Richard Medhurst was arrested last year in August, at London’s Heathrow Airport and detained by Austrian police in February this year in Vienna. The Austrian secret police raided his house and took all his devices, which they are still in the possession of.

The terrorism investigation against him by English police has been extended for the 3rd time, said Medhurst on his post on X.

Medhurst also claims that the email communication between UK’s Attorney General’s Office and the Israeli Deputy Ambassador raises questions about the impartiality of the Crown Prosecution Service and the degree of foreign meddling in the UK’s judiciary. The emails show that Israeli Deputy Ambassador was provided with contact information of UK prosecutors and counterterrorism police, in the same period that Medhurst and other British reporters and activists were arrested by CT police in a government crackdown.

Journalism under threat globally, warn press freedom groups

On World Press Freedom Day, free press groups warn about press freedom worrying decline in many parts of the world.

Committee to Protect Journalists concludes that “more journalists were killed in 2024 than in any other year since the CPJ began collecting data more than three decades ago”. At least 124 journalists and media workers were killed last year, almost 70% of them Palestinians killed by Israel.

“All of the 2024 killings point to the increased dangers facing reporters and media workers – and the threat that poses to the flow of information worldwide.”

Reporters Without Borders’s World Press Freedom Index classifies the global state of press freedom as a “difficult situation”, for the first time in its history. The Index highlights the media’s growing economic fragility. Among the five indicators used to evaluate the Index’s countries, the economic indicator saw the most significant decline.

“The data measured by the RSF Index’s economic indicator clearly shows that today’s news media are caught between preserving their editorial independence and ensuring their economic survival.

Our weekly roundup of press freedom news, highlighting the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of April 25.

Department of Justice rescinds protections for journalist-source confidentiality

Attorney General Pam Bondi has revoked protections issued by former Attorney General Merrick Garland that offered procedural protections for members of the media from having their records seized or being forced to testify in the course of leak investigation.

“The Bondi memo appears to have rescinded a specific provision protecting journalists from Justice Department subpoenas, court orders and search warrants based on the ‘receipt, possession, or publication’ of classified information. This change would make it easier for Justice Department attorneys to pursue journalists to identify confidential sources in reporting that involves leaks”, writes Gabe Rottman of RCFP for MSNBC.

The second Trump administration’s 100th day in office

Examining Trumps first 100 day in office, U.S. Press Freedom Tracker finds that the White House is leading a multipronged assault on journalists and the First Amendment by limiting access, withdrawing federal funding, threatening legal action or targeting sources.

“The first 100 days of the Trump administration have been marked by a flurry of executive actions that have created a chilling effect and have the potential to curtail media freedoms”, says Committee to Protect Journalists.

Our weekly roundup of press freedom news, highlighting the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of April 19.

State Department finds no evidence linking Tufts student to antisemitism or terrorism

Days before masked ICE agents detained Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk, the State Department determined that the Trump admin had not produced any evidence linking her to antisemitism or terrorism, reports Washington Post.

A crackdown on pro-Palestinian voices in France

Over 1,000 intellectuals, writers and activists have signed a letter against the crackdown on Palestine solidarity in France, including the targeting of union organizer Anasse Kazib for her tweets is support of Palestine, reports Mondoweiss.

As Trump attacks pro-Palestinian students, 18 Palestine Action activists remain imprisoned in the UK, and Germany plans to intensify its ongoing crackdown, in France, the collective Palestine Vaincra was dissolved, and feminist demonstrations have been forbidden because of the presence of pro-Palestinian organizations.

“In this context”, the letter reads, “the French state has taken a step forward in the repression of political dissent. On June 18, two activists from the political organization Révolution Permanente — including its spokesperson Anasse Kazib, a railroad worker, union activist, and former presidential candidate — will stand trial for ‘apology for terrorism.’ (…) While the use of ‘anti-terrorism’ laws against supporters of Palestine is becoming increasingly common, the offense of ‘apology for terrorism’ is unique to France.”

Our weekly roundup of press freedom news, highlighting the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of April 12.

A Palestinian artist and photojournalist killed by Israel

Fatima Hassouna, a Palestinian artist and photojournalist who is the protagonist of a documentary due to premiere in Cannes, was killed along with ten members of her family by a direct Israeli military strike on her family home in Gaza City.

According to the International Federation of Journalists and the Palestinian Journalist Syndicate, she is at least the 157^th journalist and media worker to be killed since Israel began its war on Gaza.

Four journalists sentenced to jail on charges of “extremism” in Russia

In a closed-door trial, a Russian court sentenced four journalists, Antonina Kravtsova (Favorskaya), Konstantin Gabov, Sergei Karelin and Artem Kriger, to five and a half years in a penal colony.

International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the Kremlin’s continued crackdown on independent journalists and urges the Russian authorities to immediately release these four journalists.

Another Columbia student taken into custody

Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian-born green card holder and student at Columbia University, involved in pro-Palestinian activism, has been arrested during his naturalization interview as part of the process to gain U.S. citizenship.

Drop Site News reports that he is the third green-card holder at Columbia that the Trump administration is looking to deport under a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 that alleges their activism has “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States”—after Mahmoud Khalil and Yunseo Chung.

Our weekly roundup of press freedom news, highlighting the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of April 5.

Attacks on journalists double in Germany, finds RSF

A report from Reporters Without Borders has found a dramatic increase in attacks on journalists in Germany, with the number of incidents more than doubling in 2024.

Deutsche Welle writes that the report documented 89 attacks on media professionals last year, compared to 41 cases in 2023. The majority of attacks, 49, took place in Berlin and 38 incidents of physical violence occurred at demonstrations over Israel’s war on Gaza, whereas 21 attacks happened at demonstrations and events organized by the far-rigt Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Israel bombs media tent, killing two

Two people, one of them journalist – Hilmi Al-Faqaawi and Yusuf Al-Khuzandar – were killed when an Israeli airstrike hit a press tent outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Al-Faqaawi was burned alive on video inside the press tent. Nine other journalists were injured in the attack, some of them critically, reports Middle East Eye.

15 years since the publication of ‘Collateral Murder’

Fifteen years ago, Wikileaks released “Collateral murder”, a secret US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad – including two Reuters news staff.

For this, Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange spent 14 years in detention and prison, and Chelsea Manning, who leaked the footage, spent 8 years in prison.

Our weekly roundup of press freedom news, highlighting the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of March 29.

Israel’s war on Gaza deadliest conflict for media workers in recorded history

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed 232 journalists – an average of 13 per week – making it the deadliest conflict for media workers ever recorded, according to a report by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs’ Costs of War project.

“The war in Gaza has, since October 7, 2023, killed more journalists than the U.S. Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War (including the conflicts in Cambodia and Laos), the wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990s and 2000s, and the post-9/11 war in Afghanistan, combined.”

Press freedom groups condemn detention of Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk

11 free speech and free press organizations – including PEN America, Freedom of the Press Foundation and others – have signed a letter condemning the detention of Tufts University Ph.D. student Rumeysa Ozturk by federal immigration authorities due to her opinion piece published more than a year ago in The Tufts Daily, the university’s student newspaper.

“Such a basis for her detention would represent a blatant disregard for the principles of free speech and free press within the First Amendment, and we call on Tufts University officials, Massachusetts lawmakers and federal authorities to take immediate action to secure her release”, wrote the groups.

Our weekly roundup of press freedom news, highlighting the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of March 22.

CPJ condemns Israel’s killing of 2 more Gaza journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists denounces the killing of Palestinian reporters Hossam Shabat and Mohammed Mansour by the Israel Defense Forces and calls for an independent international investigation into whether they were deliberately targeted.

“This nightmare in Gaza has to end. The international community must act fast to ensure that journalists are kept safe and hold Israel to account for the deaths of Hossam Shabat and Mohammed Mansour, whose killings may have been targeted. Journalists are civilians and it is illegal to attack them in a war zone”, said CPJ’s Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna.

Journalists Hossam Shabat and Mohammad Mansour killed in Israeli attack on Gaza

The Israeli military has murdered two more Palestinian journalists in Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hossam Shabat and Palestine Today’s Mohammad Mansour.

Al Jazeera reports that Hossam Shabat was killed in northern Gaza in what was, according to witnesses, a targeted attack on his vehicle without any prior warning.

Mohammad Mansour was was killed in Israeli army attack on Khan Younis “in his house … alongside his wife and his son”, in an attack that also came without any prior warning.