The tragic deaths of journalists Pierre Zakrzewski, Oleksandra Kuvshynova, and Brent Renaud in Ukraine while they were covering Russia’s invasion of the country this week underscores the dangers facing those covering the war. On Monday, March 14, a vehicle carrying a Fox News team was attacked near the village of Horenka, outside the capital Kyiv….
Russian authorities passed new restrictive legislation and blocked local and international media outlets and social media platforms in order to censor information about the war. The move plunges Russia into “an information dark age,” said CPJ Executive Director Robert Mahoney. A local journalist told Mahoney, “The Russian media is dead.” Watch Brian Stelter’s interview with…
Local and international journalists in Ukraine are risking their lives to report the news as Russia’s invasion continues. Russian forces have shelled a TV broadcast tower in Kyiv, in an attack that killed five people including journalist Yevhenii Sakun. Journalists are considered civilians, and the bombing may constitute a violation of international humanitarian law. Separately,…
As Russian forces invade Ukraine, Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, explains in a Q&A the possible risks for journalists on the ground, including being killed, injured, or taken hostage, and the potential challenges of reporting amid misinformation and disinformation. If a new pro-Kremlin regime is installed in Ukraine, it “would likely…
Mexican journalist Heber López was shot dead in Oaxaca state on February 10, the latest in a string of journalist killings in the country. López is the fifth reporter killed in Mexico – the deadliest country for journalists in the Western Hemisphere – this year. “These killings will only stop with genuine, decisive actions by…
As world leaders scramble to stave off a Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine’s press corps also prepare for possible war. Journalists in the country spoke to CPJ about the current dangers they face, including risk of arrests and kidnapping while covering Donbass and Crimea, and their fears of communication blackouts and internet shutdowns if tensions…
In Mexico, the killing of camera operator and video editor Roberto Toledo in Zitácuaro, a town 80 miles west of Mexico City, marks the fourth media worker killed in the country in less than a month in 2022. CPJ Latin America and the Caribbean Program Coordinator Natalie Southwick discussed the climate for journalists in Mexico…
After the disturbing killings of three Mexican journalists in less than two weeks, journalists in nearly 40 locations around Mexico took to the streets Tuesday night to demand the federal government do more to ensure security for reporters under threat and to end impunity in cases of murdered journalists. The three Mexican journalists killed this…
In one of the most widespread known uses of Pegasus spyware to surveil journalists in the world, a forensic analysis of dozens of phones in El Salvador found that devices belonging to 35 people, mostly members of the press, were infected with between July 2020 and November 2021. “Suspecting you’ve been targeted isn’t the same…
Since his inauguration, U.S. President Joe Biden has underscored the importance of protecting press freedom. In a new report by CPJ, Leonard Downie Jr. finds an almost complete reversal from the Trump administration’s hostile anti-media rhetoric and a return to a more traditional relationship between the press and the White House. However, journalists and advocates…