News

Journalists under threat as protests grip Brazil

Protests are spreading across Brazil’s major cities as the country readies itself for the beginning of the World Cup on the 12 June. In the wake of last year’s violent clashes, there are growing concerns for the safety of journalists as tensions continue to escalate.

Humanity in the News: An Italian Case Study on How to Tell the Migrant Story

One of the toughest tests of ethical journalism in Europe is the tragic story of migration involving thousands of poverty-stricken men, women and children from Africa and the Middle East – many of them fugitives from war – who risk their lives to make the perilous crossing of stormy seas to seek sanctuary on the southern shores of Italy and Spain.

National security, liberty, regulation and the role of a free press in the digital age

The incoming Editor-in-Chief of Guardian.com, Janine Gibson, says that investigative journalism may need to be moved ‘off shore’ to avoid the threat to sources and reporters posed by state surveillance, in the post-Snowden era. “We will have to move to the place where it’s easier to report – where there are less restrictions”, Gibson told the World Newspaper Congress and the World Editors Forum in Torino, Italy, today.

Five takeaways from Claudio Paolillo, Press Freedom and Information Committee, Inter-American Press Association

Here are five takeaways from the presentation of Claudio Paolillo, Chairman, Press Freedom and Information Committee, Inter-American Press Association, Uruguay, during a session titled “National security, liberty, regulation and the role of a free press in the digital age” on the first day of WAN-IFRA’s World Newspaper Congress / World Editors Forum in Torino, Italy.

Jailed Ethiopian journalist Eskinder Nega awarded the 2014 Golden Pen of Freedom

“This Golden Pen is more important than food, medicine and water. It materializes the support and shows that he is not forgotten. That he is one of us. That an attack on one journalist is an attack on us all and that jailing a journalist is a crime against humanity,” Swedish journalist Martin Schibbye said, accepting the 2014 Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom prize of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), on behalf of imprisoned Ethiopian publisher, journalist and blogger Eskinder Nega.

Press Freedom Roundtable

The WAN-IFRA Press Freedom Round Table is held Sunday in Torino, Italy, where top media executives give their insight on an important question: “Is press freedom in democratic countries a trend in decline?”

Tibetan film-maker Dhondup Wangchen released

Tibetan film-maker Dhondup Wangchen has been released from prison, six years after his arrest in March 2008. Wangchen was featured in WAN-IFRA’s ‘30 Days for Freedom’ campaign.

Journalism safety: A year in review

Barely one year ago we were in Bangkok for WAN-IFRA’s 65th Newspaper Congress, which included some lively discussions on the threats to press freedom and the need for journalist security around the world, writes Javier Garza Ramos.

Journalists targeted as unrest in eastern Ukraine intensifies

As Ukrainians headed to the polls on 25 May in snap elections that were commended by international observers for largely upholding democratic commitments, turmoil in eastern Ukraine saw an increase in violence against journalists. A day before the elections, Italian photojournalist Andrea Rocchelli and his Russian interpreter Andrey Mironov were killed while covering the fighting in Slavyansk, while on 25 May, separatists took two journalists hostage – Viacheslav Bondarenko and Maksym Osovsky – as they covered the elections in Luhansk region. The pair was released several days later.

Ethiopia tightens its grip on media ahead of 2015 elections

“The current regime follows this pattern: immediately before elections, they start to muzzle every critical voice,” protests Endalk Chala, a co-founder and member of the Ethiopian blogging collective called “Zone 9” – a proverbial reference to Ethiopia’s situation beyond the eight zones that divide the notorious Kaliti prison, where many journalists and political prisoners are kept behind bars.