News

The World Editors Forum offers republishable content to mark the first International Day to #EndImpunity for Crimes Against Journalists

November 2nd is the first United Nations International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. It is a day that draws together efforts to denounce threats to journalists and media freedom worldwide. WAN-IFRA and the World Editors Forum have curated editorials from leading editors designed to highlight some of the major actions taking place to mark the day.

Social media in ‘silent zones’: crimes against journalists and getting away with murder in realtime #EndImpunity

The recent murder of a Mexican citizen journalist who used social media to report on cartel activity has highlighted new dimensions in the killing of journalists with impunity: the exploitation of online virality by perpetrators, and the increasing risk posed to sources who ‘go direct’. Alice Matthews and Julie Posetti report.

Free Media Essential for Stability #EndImpunity (free to re-publish)

When Kenya’s First Lady stormed the newsroom of the country’s largest media house nine years ago and tried to slap a journalist, various questions were asked about her sense of decorum and the powers of the president’s family. Less prominent in the public discussion was a question which dominated Nation Media Group’s own internal review of the incident: What if the First Lady had a gun and had gone on to use it? Former Editorial Director of East Africa’s Nation Media Group, Joseph Odindo.

Killing of Journalists: The Show Never Stops #EndImpunity (Free to re-publish)

These days a number of senior journalists in Pakistan, including some editors, travel only in armour-plated bulletproof vehicles. In some cases they have armed security escorts. Zaffar Abbas, Editor of Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, writes that a couple of them have survived assassination attempts.

Journalism trainers detained by Putin Government in St Petersberg

The Director of WAN-IFRA’s Newsplex Training Centre at the University of South Carolina, Randy Covington, was detained by the Russian Government last week while conducting a journalism training workshop with Joe Bergantino of the New England Center for Investigative Reporting. Bergantino penned this letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, first published in the The Boston Globe and reproduced here with permission.

#TAS14: Winners of first WAN-IFRA World Digital Media Awards honoured

Excellence knows no borders and the World Digital Media Awards showed that with a selection of the best of the best from around the globe.

Australia: New anti-terror laws all-but-enacted a blow to press freedom

Phase one of the enactment of a tougher national anti-terrorism regime is almost complete for the Abbott Government, with controversial new laws having gained Senate endorsement.

Journalists may face prison under proposed new Australian anti-terror legislation

Australian journalists reporting on terrorism could risk imprisonment under a suite of new national security laws and policies proposed by Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s government, and now backed by a key parliamentary committee. The legislation, which appears increasingly likely to be enacted, represents a chilling attack on media freedom in a progressive democracy, as Julie Posetti and Jessica Sparks report.

The dangers of reporting Ukraine for Russian journalists extend from the frontline to the homefront

Even as a shaky ceasefire holds, the Ukrainian conflict remains a dangerous assignment for Russian journalists – both on the frontline, and on the homefront. “Apparently even the fact that Russia’s waging a war is a taboo now. At least for regional media, that cannot hire bodyguards for the journalists,” Russian journalist Andrey Babitsky told the World Editors Forum in a recent interview.

The New Yorker’s Jon Lee Anderson on freelancers, Edward Snowden and the Arab Spring

Jon Lee Anderson is one of the world’s leading war correspondents. Currently working for The New Yorker, he has covered conflicts in Syria, Libya and Ireland over the course of his 30-year career. Anderson recently delivered an address to the School of Journalism at Paris’ Sciences Po university, in which he tackled issues ranging from the risks of freelance conflict reporting, to the murder of his friend James Foley, the perils of social media, and the role of Edward Snowden: “[He] is a spy, he’s not a journalist”.