News

Four years on: Supporting independent media in Ukraine

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago, Ukrainian journalists and media organisations have been holding the line by producing critical independent journalism – under the worst of conditions. During that time, WAN-IFRA has stood alongside Ukrainian independent media through structured support, long-term partnerships, and targeted capacity-building initiatives – and we are committed to continuing that support.

WAN-IFRA denounces sentences for Jimmy Lai and Apple Daily executives in Hong Kong

Described as “cruel and profoundly unjust”, the sentences imposed on Jimmy Lai and his Apple Daily colleagues this week send a chilling message to journalists and independent media, and risk marking the end of freedom of expression in Hong Kong. 

WAN-IFRA denounces systemic legal targeting of Vanguardia in Mexico

The Saltillo, Coahuila-based news organisation has withstood a decade of intensifying legal harassment, culminating in the falsified arrest of its top executive in what has been described as a coordinated attempt to kidnap and extort.

Fragile, eroded: ‘Global press freedom needs robust, varied survival strategies’

The latest World Press Trends Outlook reveals a critical state of affairs, made even grimmer by the White House’s attacks on the press, last week’s FBI raid of a Washington Post journalist’s home, and this week’s killing of three Egyptian journalists in Gaza. How to safeguard press freedom?

One year of Trump’s war on the press

Peter Vandermeersch took a closer look at what one year of Trump’s second term has meant for the media. Here’s his status report.

Hacking the ‘Dictator’s Playbook’: How to navigate retaliation, selective access, and (self-)censorship

How can newsrooms respond in an era of escalating attacks? Legal advisers share practical strategies, plus: we offer a checklist every newsroom needs.

Stronger Together: A Year of Growth, Connection, and Forward Momentum

2025-12-15. In its first year, the Stronger Together programme empowered 40 Ukrainian media outlets with grants, training, and mentorship, boosting investigative reporting, newsroom leadership, and resilience. As it moves into year two, new international partnerships promise to drive further innovation, collaboration, and impact for independent journalism.

World Editors Forum President: “Free Jimmy Lai. Let him leave Hong Kong.”

2025-12-15. David Walmsley, President of the World Editors Forum and Editor in Chief of the Globe and Mail, responds to the guilty verdict handed down to Jimmy Lai, recipient of WAN-IFRA’s 2021 Golden Pen of Freedom, and urges authorities to let him leave the territory.

End Impunity: The US is attacking the public’s right to know

2025-10-31. The public’s right to know is in serious jeopardy in the United States. The country that once proudly lauded its commitment to free expression and a free press has rapidly adopted the behavior of autocrats to stifle reporting it does not like, writes Jodie Ginsberg.

End Impunity: Silence is Complicity

2025-10-31. It is the largest massacre of journalists in human history: 253 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed Since October 2023. Yet these killings remain mostly unacknowledged and unpunished and by those responsible – a stark example of the impunity that allows this to continue, writes Dima Khatib.