When Bashar al-Assad’s government was overthrown at the end of 2024, Mais Katt, a Syrian journalist who has lived in exile for 14 years, immediately returned to her country. She was one of the first journalism trainers to enter Damascus after the fall of the regime. Her goal? Help prepare women journalists to take advantage of their newfound freedoms.
Aziza Nofal, a Palestinian freelance journalist and an ICFJ Jim Hoge Reporting Fellow, through her fellowship, conducted a months-long investigation into the shortage of aid for refugees living in West Bank refugee camps. When Nofal was covering Israeli incursions into West Bank refugee camps for outlets like Al Jazeera, she observed a lack of support from Palestinian authorities.
Risks to journalists’ safety and their ability to operate are growing every day, from state-sponsored repression and legal attacks to armed conflicts and online violence. “Right now, it feels like a perfect storm has hit independent media,” said Anastasia Rudenko, founder and editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian outlet Rubryka.
Un grupo de 10 organizaciones internacionales presentó esta semana un amicus curiae ante la Corte Suprema de Justicia de Guatemala en el caso del periodista José Rubén Zamora Marroquín. El amicus, presentado el 26 de marzo, argumenta que el retorno de Zamora a prisión preventiva constituye una violación de sus derechos fundamentales bajo el derecho guatemalteco e internacional, e insta a la Corte a otorgar un recurso de amparo pendiente y permitir que el Sr. Zamora lleve su proceso bajo medidas sustitutivas.
A group of 10 international organizations submitted an amicus curiae brief to Guatemala’s Supreme Court in the case of journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín. The brief, filed on March 26, argues that Zamora’s return to preventive detention constitutes a violation of his fundamental rights under Guatemalan and international law, and urges the Court to grant a pending amparo appeal and allow Zamora to return to house arrest.
International and U.S. journalists, university faculty and students, and foundation and media leaders came together recently in Washington, D.C., to address a critical gap in educating young Americans on the role of a free press in democratic societies.
Press freedom is a pillar of American democracy. But political attacks on U.S.-based journalists and news organizations pose an unprecedented threat to their safety and the integrity of information. A new survey from ICFJ highlights a disturbing tolerance for political bullying of the press in the land of the First Amendment.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), since the war began at least 128 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and Lebanon, including some targeted by Israeli forces. The killings of journalists, who are civilians under the law, must stop, and Israel must investigate cases of journalists killed by their forces.
A Moscow court this week issued arrest warrants for ICFJ Knight Award winner Roman Anin and his former colleague, Ekaterina Fomina, both Russian reporters operating in exile.
The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) strongly condemns attacks against our partner, the Metamorphosis Foundation, an organization dedicated to strengthening the awareness and capacity of citizens and civil society in North Macedonia. Metamorphosis and its fact-checking service, Truthmeter, are the target of a widespread disinformation campaign endangering current and former employees and undermining the ability of a free press to operate in the country.
