News

The latest news from the International Center for Journalists.

August
2
2022

Journalism in Afghanistan Today: An Interview with Samiullah Mahdi

Journalists in Afghanistan for two decades provided the public with vital news and information across a range of independent newspapers, radio stations and TV networks – a media ecosystem that they worked hard to build and strengthen. When the Taliban returned to power in 2021, everything changed in a matter of days.

August
1
2022

ICFJ pide a las autoridades guatemaltecas que liberen de inmediato a José Rubén Zamora

El Centro Internacional para Periodistas (ICFJ, por sus siglas en inglés) se une a grupos de libertad de prensa y pro democracia en todo el mundo para condenar el arresto de José Rubén Zamora, un periodista galardonado y de renombre internacional, presidente del periódico elPeriódico en Guatemala.

August
1
2022

ICFJ Calls on Guatemalan Authorities to Immediately Release José Rubén Zamora

The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) joins press freedom and pro-democracy groups worldwide in strongly condemning the arrest of José Rubén Zamora, an internationally renowned, award-winning journalist and president of elPeriódico newspaper in Guatemala.

July
27
2022

Spanish-Language Podcast Aims to 'Fill the Gap' in Health News for U.S. Latinos

Even before the launch of her Spanish-language podcast, Salud, an enterprising journalist in Boston has attracted support from the city’s public health commission for a second season.

July
21
2022

Innovative Fact-Checking Can Help Counter Disinformation About Elections

As preparation for elections get underway in countries such as Kenya and Nigeria, politicians and their supporters are investing time and resources into spreading mis- and disinformation that can sway public opinion and impact electoral outcomes. Africa’s youth bulge and a steady increase in internet adoption has aided the shift to social media as a medium of political expression.

July
21
2022

Meet the ICFJ Innovators Working to Build Trust in News

Journalism innovators from across the world – from Brazil to Turkey to the U.S. – have embarked on a 10-week solutions challenge to address one of the field’s most urgent questions: How to build trust in news.

Almost 40 journalists and technologists from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North America are taking part in the inaugural solutions challenge with Leap, ICFJ’s news innovation lab. Expert trainers and mentors are providing a guided, focused experience for participants to explore, design and develop products to better serve their communities, in an era of rampant disinformation and extreme polarization. 

July
8
2022

These 6 Newsrooms are Creating Innovative Ways to Combat Misinformation in Brazil

The rise of mis- and disinformation is a major problem for democracies around the world. So-called “fake news”, spread on social media and texting services such as WhatsApp and Telegram, can undercut faith in elections and the democratic process and endanger peaceful transfers of power. In Brazil, the spread of disinformation will present a substantial risk to public faith in the outcome of this year’s presidential election, with false allegations of voter fraud, for instance, already running rampant. 

July
8
2022

Hold the Line Coalition Demands Immediate Decriminalization of Libel in the Philippines as Maria Ressa Faces Extended Jail Sentence

The Hold The Line Coalition condemns the Philippine Court of Appeals decision to uphold the conviction of Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa and former Rappler researcher Rey Santos Jr on trumped-up charges of cyber libel. Alarmingly, the court’s rejection of their appeal brings Ressa and Santos Jr a step closer to possible imprisonment.

June
30
2022

Women Journalists Making Change in the Newsroom and Beyond

Catherine Gicheru is very familiar with glass ceilings, and how to break them.

She became the first woman news editor of the Nation Media Group, later serving as the founding editor of The Star in Kenya. That’s when Catherine first joined the ICFJ network, as one of a cohort of top news editors we brought to the U.S. to learn from their peer newsrooms. 

June
29
2022

Covering COVID-19’s Impact on Marginalized Communities

A cross-border team of journalists shone a light on rural healthcare in Ecuador, the United States and Zimbabwe, while another reporting duo surfaced how Latinas with disabilities navigated the pandemic, in stories supported by the ICFJ-Hearst Foundations Global Health Crisis Reporting Grant.