News

Ukrainian journalist warns: Russian troops are targeting reporters as Putin’s propaganda reaches ‘Goebbels levels’

“Who will protect the journalists?” Oleksandr Akymenko asks urgently as he describes the deliberate targeting of Ukrainian journalists in Crimea by Russian troops and separatists. Akymenko, one of the founders of the impressive YanukovychLeaks collaborative investigative journalism project, visited Paris this week to try to activate the global journalism communuity in support of Ukrainian journalists.

Gendered online abuse ‘shuts women (journalists) up’

Gendered online abuse is “…keeping women outside of that area of work (online journalism) and it’s really working to shut women up, which is its intention”, says Elisa Lees Munoz from the International Women’s Media Foundation. She spoke to the World Editors Forum’s Emily Bennett at UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day Conference in Paris.

Joint Declaration for Freedom of Expression

In a joint statement by Special Rapporteurs, the 2014 Joint Declaration on Universality and the Right to Freedom of Expression was launched at UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Conference today.

Journalist in exile: Makaila Nguebla

“Without the press there is no democracy in a country”, Makaila Nguebla told WAN-IFRA at the World Press Freedom conference in Paris. Speaking after his appearance at the discussion on the safety of journalists, the exiled Chadian blogger lamented the dire state of press freedom in his own country, and expressed concerns about the lack of progress being made across the world.

Protecting journalists in the face of impunity

Representatives from organisations like Reporters Sans Frontières and Al Jazeera spoke about the pressing importance of protecting journalists, the worrying increase in attacks going unpunished, and the steps that can be taken to resolve these issues.

Press Freedom and development – you can’t have one without the other

For Agnes Callamard, Director of the Global Freedom of Expression Project at Columbia University, development is “the image of a ten-year-old girl skipping to school, who won’t be forcibly married, and who won’t flee her home due to conflict. She will get access to knowledge, including knowledge on sexual and reproductive health. She will have access to the Internet and will tell her own stories to the world.”

Turkey’s UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize laureate Ahmet Sik on #PressFreedom

Turkish journalist Ahmet Sik has been named the laureate of the 2014 UNESCO Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. He was honoured for his commitment to the defence of press freedom. Emily Bennett reports from the World Press Freedom Day conference underway at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

Increasing violence against journalists highlighted at World Press Freedom Day Conference in Paris

The World Press Freedom Day conference 5-6 May began this morning at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. Opening remarks came from UNESCO Deputy Director-General Getachew Engida and Rémy Pflimlin from France Télévisions, with 2014 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize Laureate Ahmet Sik speaking about the predicament in his own country, Turkey.

Media infighting threatens Pakistan’s press freedom

The attempted killing of Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir has prompted a war of words between the country’s media groups and authorities, a situation that threatens Pakistan’s hard-won press freedom and adds to growing concerns about the safety of its journalists.

Captive in Syria

Syria is the world’s deadliest beat for journalists, with at least 52 confirmed killings since fighting began in 2011. But as the country continues to fracture, journalists are increasingly caught between warring factions, becoming targets for an unprecedented rise in kidnappings and abductions.