This is the latest installment of our press freedom round-up, recapping the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of November 15, 2024.
Attacks on journalists in Gaza continue
Palestinian photojournalist Ahmed Abu Shariya was killed in an Israeli airstrike on November 19, making him the 136th journalist killed in Gaza since October 2023 according to International Federation of Journalists.
On November 20, the Israeli forces deliberately targeted Hossam Shabat, one of the last journalists reporting from north Gaza, after the Israeli military publicly threatened him with assassination in October.
Jailed Whistleblower David McBride speaks from prison
Addressing the Walkleys award ceremony on a video call from prison, McBride said that whistleblower protection laws, freedom of information laws and fair work laws all do the opposite their names suggest. In an interview he gave for the ABC he speaks about his time in prison and stresses that it is a price he has to pay for what he believes in.
“People who are actually, genuinely exposing problems with the government are classified as criminals and put in jail … it’s very, very dangerous.”
Israel has a long history of smearing journalists
Israel is smearing Palestinian journalists with unsubstantiated ‘terrorist’ labels, a tactic used to justify its attacks on them and discredit Palestinian journalists more broadly, writes Jodie Ginsberg, the chief executive officer of the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Journalists under fire in the U.S.
The International Women’s Media Foundation recently surveyed 610 journalists across 11 states. The data revealed a shocking number of threats to American journalists’ safety and well-being.