Journalists in Iran have been working amid hostile air strikes for almost a week since the start of the US-Israeli offensive while also facing repression from the Iranian regime.

Internet access in the country remains limited and information is scarce.

As war spreads across the region, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has expressed its solidarity with journalists in the zone and has called on all parties involved in the conflict to guarantee their protection and the right to information.

“As the region goes up in flames, access to reliable information about the war following the attacks carried out by the United States and Israel, is more essential than ever — both regionally and internationally,” said Jonathan Dagher, head of RSF’s Middle East Desk, in a statement.

“Every single stakeholder involved in this war in Iran and the Middle East more widely is required, under international law, to guarantee the safety of reporters and their freedom to carry out their work.”

Although the situation was volatile and characterised by violence, respect for the right to information was still an obligation,” he said.

“The safety of journalists is non-negotiable. War must under no circumstances hinder the work of the press.

‘Release journalists’ call
“US and Israeli strikes against Iran must not endanger the media professionals covering those events. The Iranian regime must immediately release the journalists it is holding and cease all pressures against those covering the war.”

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The ban has persisted since the start of the war over two years ago, despite the ceasefire plan that went into effect on 10 October 2025.

In a letter addressed to the foreign ministers of MFC member states — which includes the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Canada and France — RSF and CPJ have urged these governments to:

• Send official representatives to attend the January 26 hearing before Israel’s Supreme Court concerning the second petition filed by the Foreign Press Association (FPA) seeking unrestricted independent access into Gaza for journalists;
• Make press freedom a priority in discussions with the new technocratic government — appointed under the US President’s plan to govern Gaza and led by Ali Shaath — beginning with the immediate lifting of the media blockade; and
• Ensure that the International Stabilisation Force (ISF) applies UN Security Council Resolution 2222, which recognises journalists as civilians in times of conflict and guarantees both their protection and foreign media access to Gaza.

Independent access ‘fundamental’
“Independent access to conflict zones is a fundamental principle of war reporting,” said RSF’s director-general Thibaut Bruttin.

“The foreign press has been able to cover many recent high-intensity conflicts, from Iraq to Afghanistan to Ukraine.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Paris-based global media freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned the guilty verdict against Filipino journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio whose case has been challenged since her arrest almost six years ago.

Cumpio was found guilty today on a charge of “financing terrorism” in the Philippines, and now faces a sentence of between 12 and 18 years in prison.

RSF released a statement condemning the verdict and questioning the Philippines government’s commitment to a free press.

“We are appalled by this verdict. Three RSF investigations and evidence presented in court by Frenchie Mae Cumpio’s lawyers clearly show how fabricated this case has been from the very beginning,” said RSF Asia-Pacific Bureau advocacy manager Aleksandra Bielakowska
in the statement in Taipei today.

Local and international groups have condemned the conviction of 26-year-old community journalist Cumpio, saying it sends a “chilling message” to media, activists, and even ordinary people in the Philippines, reports Rappler.

“Frenchie Mae Cumpio’s conviction represents a devastating failure on the part of the Philippine justice system and the authorities’ blatant disregard for press freedom,” said Bielakowska.

“The Philippines should serve as an international example of protecting media freedom — not a perpetrator that red-tags, prosecutes and imprisons journalists simply for doing their work.

‘Highlights systemic issues’
“This sentence only highlights the systemic issues in the country and the urgent need for comprehensive reforms.

“We renew our call on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to act without delay to end this injustice and release Frenchie Mae Cumpio immediately.

“Without his decisive action, there will be no meaningful difference from previous administrations that showed no regard for upholding a free press.”

Committee to Protect Journalists Asia-Pacific director Beh Lih Yi said the court ruling was “absurd” and that the promises made by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to uphold press freedom were “nothing but empty talk”.

She added that the Philippines must stop criminalising journalists.

According to the 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Index, the Philippines is 116th out of 180 countries surveyed.

Pacific Media Watch collaborates with Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

When it comes to press freedom, he has kept his word, extending the war on the press he launched while running for his first term with grave attacks on access to reliable information worldwide.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which monitors “press freedom predators” worldwide, has compiled a timeline of his administration’s assaults on the media in the past year and warns that he risks sinking to the levels of authoritarian regimes.

President Trump’s hostility towards the media predates his return to the White House in 2025. For the past 10 years, he has labelled journalists and media outlets he disagrees with as “the enemy of the people” and “fake news”.

His attacks coincide with a broader decline in the news media’s public esteem: according to Gallup, only 28 percent of Americans have a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the media.

In his second term in office, though, Trump has matched his history of violent rhetoric with a series of concrete actions that have severely damaged freedom of the press in the United States and around the world.

In the past 12 months, he has censored government data, dismantled America’s public broadcasters, weaponised independent government agencies to punish media that criticise his actions, halted aid funding for media freedom internationally, sued disfavored outlets, applied pressure to install cronies to lead others, and more

These actions echo the anti-press measures of the ruthless dictators in the “political” category of the 2025 Press Freedom Predators List, such as President Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Similar alarming levels
RSF is concerned that Trump’s increasingly authoritarian tactics could eventually descend to similarly alarming levels.

The Press Freedom Predators List exposes systemic attempts to silence the free press by highlighting actors who wield an outsized, harmful influence on press freedom in five categories: political, security, legal, economic and social.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr has already made the 2025 list in the “legal” category, while Trump-aligned tech mogul Elon Musk was featured in the “economic” category.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The world has lost a giant with the passing of Australian media legend Bob Howarth. He was 81.

He was a passionate advocate for journalism who changed many lives with his extraordinary kindness and generosity coupled with wisdom, experience and an uncanny ability to make things happen.

Howarth worked for major daily newspapers in his native Australia and around the world, having a particularly powerful impact on the Asia Pacific region.

I first met Bob Howarth in 2001 in Timor-Leste during the nation’s first election campaign after the hard-won independence vote.

We met in the newsroom of the Timor Post, a daily newspaper he had been instrumental in setting up.

I was doing my journalism training there when Howarth was asked to tell the trainees about his considerable experience. It was only a short conversation, but his words and body language captivated me.

He was a born storyteller.

Role in the Timor-Post
I later found out about his role in the birth of the Timor Post, the newly independent nation’s first daily newspaper.

In early 2000, after hearing Timorese journalists lacked even the most basic equipment needed to do their jobs, he hatched a plan to get non-Y2K-compliant PCs, laptops and laser printers from Queensland Newspapers over to Dili.

And, despite considerable hurdles, he got it done. Then his bosses sent Howarth himself over to help a team of 14 Timorese journalists set up the Post.

The first publication of the Timor Post occurred during the historic visit of Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid to Timor-Leste in February 2000.

A media mass for Bob Howarth in Timor-Leste          Video: Timor Post

In that first edition, Bob Howarth wrote an editorial in English, entitled “Welcome Mr Wahid”, accompanied by photos of President Wahid and Timorese national hero Xanana Gusmão. That article was framed and proudly hangs on the wall at the Timor Post offices to this day.

After Bob Howarth left Timor-Leste, he delivered some life-changing news to the Timor Post — he wanted to sponsor a journalist from the newspaper to study in Papua New Guinea. The owners chose me.

In 2002, I went with another Timorese student sponsored by Howarth to study journalism at Divine Word University in Madang on PNG’s north coast.

Work experience at the Post-Courier
During our time in PNG, we began to see the true extent of Howarth’s kindness. During every university holiday we would fly to Port Moresby to stay with him and get work experience at the Post-Courier, where Bob was managing director and publisher.

Our relationship became stronger and stronger. Sometimes we would sit down, have some drinks and I’d ask him questions about journalism and he would generously answer them in his wise and entertaining way.

In 2005, I went back to Timor-Leste and I went back to the Timor Post as political reporter.

When the owners of the Post appointed me editor-in chief in the middle of 2007, at the age of 28, I contacted Bob for advice and training support, with the backing of the Post’s new director, Jose Ximenes. That year I went to Melbourne to attend journalism training organised by the Asia Pacific Journalism Centre.

I then flew to the Gold Coast and stayed for two days with Bob Howarth and Di at their beautiful Miami home.

“Congratulations, Mouzy, for becoming the new editor-in-chief of the Post,” said Bob Howarth as he shook my hand, looking so proud. But I replied: “Bob, I need your help.”

He said, “Beer first, mate” — one of his favourite sayings — and then we discussed how he could help. He said he would try his best to bring some used laptops for Timor Post when he came to Dili to provide some training.

Arrival of laptops
True to his word, in early 2008 he and one of his long-time friends, veteran journalist Gary Evans, arrived in Dili with said laptops, delivered the training and helped set up business plans.

After I left the Post in 2010, I planned with some friends to set up a new daily newspaper called the Independente. Of course, I went to Bob for ideas and advice.

On a personal note, without Bob Howarth I may never have met my wife Jen, an Aussie Queensland University of Technology student who travelled to Madang in 2004 on a research trip. Bob and Di represented my family in Timor-Leste at our engagement party on the Gold Coast in 2010.

Jen moved to Dili at the end of that year and was part of the launch of Independente in 2011.

In the paper’s early days Howarth and Evans came back to Dili to train our journalists. He then also worked with the Timor-Leste Press Council and UNDP to provide training to many journalists in Dili.

Before he got sick, the owners and founders of the Timor Post paid tribute to Bob Howarth as “the father of the Timor Post” at the paper’s 20th anniversary celebrations in 2020 because of his contributions.

He and the Timor Post’s former director had a special friendship. Howarth was the godfather for Da Costa’s daughter, Stefania Howarth Da Costa.

30 visits to Timor-Leste
During his lifetime Bob Howarth visited Timor-Leste more than 30 times. He said many times that Timor-Leste was his second home after Australia.

After the news of his passing after a three-and-a-half-year battle with cancer was received by his friends at the Independente and the Timor Post on November 13, the Facebook walls of many in the Timorese media were adorned with words of sadness.

Both the Timor Post and the Independente organised a special mass in Bob Howarth’s honour.

He has left us forever but his legacy will be always with us.

May your soul rest in peace, Bob Howarth.

Mouzinho Lopes de Araujo is former editor-in-chief of the Timor Post and editorial director of the Independente in Timor-Leste, and is currently living in Brisbane with his wife Jen and their two boys, Enzo and Rafael.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders has called on the Samoan Prime Minister to lift the ban preventing the daily newspaper Samoa Observer from attending government press conferences.

“The measure is totally unacceptable — it comes after one of its journalists filed a complaint over violence committed by the PM’s security officers,” said RSF in a post on its BlueSky news feed.

Samoan Prime Minister La’aulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Schmidt “temporarily” banned the Samoa Observer on Monday from engagements with him and his ministers, triggering a wave of condemnation from Pacific and global media freedom organisations.

#Samoa: RSF is calling on the Prime Minister to lift the ban preventing the daily #SamoaObserver from attending government press conferences. The measure is totally unacceptable — it comes after one of its journalists filed a complaint over violence committed by the PM’s security officers.

[image or embed]

— RSF (@rsf.org) November 20, 2025 at 5:47 AM

As other criticism of the Samoan Prime Minister continued to flow during the week, former prime minister and leader of the Samoa Uniting Party, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, said the ban was a “clear attempt to silence scrutiny” and a serious decline in Samoa’s democratic standards.

Quoted in the Samoa Observer today, Fiame said that when a person held public office, transparency was an obligation, not a choice.

She warned that democracy weakened not through a single dramatic event, but through a series of actions that slowly eroded transparency and silenced independent voices.

Fiame said the banning of a major newspaper like the Samoa Observer could not be viewed as a simple administrative decision.

“It is an act that strikes at the heart of media freedom, a right that allows the public to understand and question those who hold power,” she said.

Fiame reflected on her own time as prime minister, noting that no journalist or media organisation had ever ever been shut out, regardless of how challenging their questions were.

She said leadership required openness, accountability, and the ability to face criticism without fear or restriction.

Meanwhile, the Samoa Observer’s editor, Shalveen Chand, reported that the Journalists Association of [Western] Samoa (JAWS) had also urged Prime Minister La’aulialemalietoa to reconsider the decision and lift the ban on the newspaper’s journalists from attending his press conferences.

JAWS said in a statement it was deeply concerned that such bans might “become the norm” for the current government and for future governments.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Freedoms Committee of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate says the Israeli occupation forces have killed 44 Palestinian journalists inside displacement tents in the Gaza Strip.

The committee said that these journalists were among 254 media workers who had been killed since the beginning of the Israeli assault on Gaza in October 2023 until the end of October 2025, reports Middle East Monitor.

According to the report, the attacks were systematic, targeting displacement tents located around hospitals and UNRWA shelters, in addition to direct sniper shootings inside displacement areas.

It added that the victims were working for local and international media outlets, and most of them were killed while covering the humanitarian situation in the displacement camps.

The syndicate affirmed that such targeting reflects a deliberate attempt to silence the Palestinian press and prevent the truth from reaching the world.

It also stressed the need to hold the Israeli occupation accountable for its crimes against journalists and to ensure international protection for media crews working in Gaza.

Israel’s audiovisual media bill ‘a nail in coffin of editorial independence’
Meanwhile, the Paris-based media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has sounded the alarm following the first reading of a bill sponsored by Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi that would strengthen the executive branch’s control over the audiovisual media, despite opposition from the Attorney General and the Union of Journalists in Israel.

The bill includes measures that RSF condemned a year ago.

Although the rest of the legislative process is likely to be difficult, Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, has managed to get a foot in the door. On the evening of November 3, around midnight, his media broadcasting bill was adopted after its first reading, as part of a voting pact with ultra-Orthodox MPs.

The bill calls for the creation of a Broadcast Media Authority largely composed of members appointed by the Communications Minister himself. His ministry would also be entrusted with calculating television audiences, a measure approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation a year ago that was condemned by RSF.

Legal and legislative barriers are already being put in place in response to this attempt to strengthen the Israeli government’s control over the media landscape.

Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, who is responsible for advising the government on legislative matters, is opposed to the bill, which has been deemed unconstitutional by the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament.

Two petitions against the bill have also been filed with the Supreme Court. One was submitted by the Union of Journalists in Israel, which represents around 3000 media professionals. The other was instigated by the NGO Hatzlacha (meaning “success” in Hebrew), which promotes social justice.

“This first reading vote is the first nail in the coffin of broadcast media’s editorial independence in Israel,” said RSF editorial director Anne Bocandé.

“Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi is openly attacking a pillar of democracy. Against a backdrop of war and an upcoming election campaign, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is seeking to silence voices that are critical of the far-right coalition in power.

“RSF reiterates the warning it issued a year ago: these legislative attacks will have lasting, negative consequences on Israel’s media landscape.”

Incorporating the ‘Al Jazeera’ ban on foreign broadcasters into common law
In parallel with his legislative attack on the editorial independence of the country’s broadcast media, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi is also continuing his battle against international broadcasters operating in Israel.

Although his so-called “Al Jazeera law” — which allowed Israeli authorities to shut down any foreign broadcasters perceived as undermining national security and was condemned by RSF in April 2024 — expired on October 27 with the end of the state of emergency, the minister informed the National Security Council — which is attached to the Ministry of National Security — that he now intended to turn the measure into common law.

After the missile exchanges between Israel and Iran in June 2024, the Prime Minister’s party had already attempted to amend the “Al Jazeera law” in an attempt to give additional powers to the Minister of Communications to stop the broadcasting of foreign channels in the country.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

We are gathered here to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists.

The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) National Media Section usually campaigns for journalists’ rights and industrial agency in Australia — but today, we join hands with the IFJ — International Federation of Journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and Reporters sans frontières — Reporters Without Borders, to make a stand against the global assault on press freedom.

The past few years have been particularly hostile for journalists around the world.

From the press briefing rooms in the White House to the streets of Gaza, journalists have been in the crosshairs.

Shortly after assuming office in January 2017, US President Donald Trump accused the press of being an “enemy of the American people”. He has doubled down in his second term.

We have seen newsroom after newsroom fall foul of White House press secretaries; we saw bans on CNN, The New York Times, the LA Times and Politico back in 2017, and now, the Associated Press for simply refusing to fall in line with the so-called renaming of the Gulf of Mexico.

Three weeks ago, the world watched Pentagon journalists exit en masse, after rejecting Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s latest edict.

Another White House rule
Just last week, we saw the declaration of another White House rule — this time, restricting credentialed journalists from freely accessing the Press Secretary’s offices in the West Wing.

These attacks on US soil are complemented by an equally invidious assault on media outlets on a global scale.

Funding freezes and mass sackings have all but silenced Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Middle East Broadcasting Networks and Radio Free Asia — the latter of which employed several of our colleagues here in Queensland and the Pacific.

We have seen Trump’s verbal attack on the ABC’s John Lyons, and how that presidential tantrum led to the ABC being excluded from the Trump–Starmer press conference in the UK.

Apparently, they simply didn’t have space for the national broadcaster of the third AUKUS partner — and all this with barely a whimper from the Australian government.

But then, why would our Prime Minister leap to journalism’s defence when he sees fit to exclude Pacific journalists from his Pacific Island Forum press conference — in, you guessed it, the Pacific.

This enmity towards journalism, has been a hallmark of the Trump presidency.

Blatant ignorance, hubris
His blatant ignorance, hubris, and perfidy — indulged by US allies — has emboldened other predators and enemies of the press around the world.

As at December 2024, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) listed 376 journalists as being imprisoned in various countries around the world — it was the highest number three years running, since the record started in 1992.

China topped the list with 52 imprisoned journalists, with Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory a close second with 48.

Myanmar had 35, Belarus 33, Russia 30 and the list continues.

Among this group are 15 journalists arrested in Eritrea more than two decades ago, between 2000 and 2002, who continue to be held without charge.

And it gets worse.

The same CPJ database records 2023, 24 and 25 as the worst years for the deaths of journalists and media workers — worse than the years at the height of the US and allied invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the war against the Islamic State.

Killed journalists
The war in Gaza accounts for a significant number of these deaths.

A staggering 185 journalists and media workers have been killed directly because of their work in the past 25 months — on a small strip of land just 2.3 per cent the size of Greater Brisbane.

I urge you to read the ICRC case study on the legal protection of journalists in combat zones. It clearly explains how Protocol 1 of the Geneva Convention protects journalists, even when they engage in producing “propaganda” for the conflicting parties.

Since our vigil 12 months ago, the CPJ has recorded the deaths of 122 journalists and media workers around the world. These are deaths the CPJ has confirmed as being directly linked to their work — such as those killed while reporting in combat zones or on dangerous assignments.

Of those, 33 were confirmed murders — meaning those journalists were deliberately targeted.

A staggering 61 of those 122 were killed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory — in Israel’s war on Gaza. Another 31 were killed in a single day during targeted Israeli airstrikes on two newspapers in Sana’a in Yemen. And three more were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a compound housing journalists in Lebanon — meaning Israeli defence forces were responsible for 78 percent of last year’s killings.

We talk of Israel’s attack on journalists because it is unprecedented, but Israel is by no means the only perpetrator of such crimes — there was the Mozambique journalist murdered during a live broadcast; a video journalist tortured and killed in Saudi Arabia; and a print journalist tortured and killed in Bangladesh.

Today we read the names of 122 fallen comrades and remember them one by one.

Dr Kasun Ubayasiri is co-vice president of the MEAA National Media Section. He gave this address at the annual vigil in Brisbane Meanjin last Sunday, on International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. Republished with the author’s permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says it “regrets” the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to grant the Tel Aviv government 30 days to respond to a petition to allow journalists access to the Gaza Strip following the ceasefire.

RSF said in a statement it believes the blockade on access — in place for more than two years — remains illegal, unjustifiable and contrary to the public’s fundamental right to news and information, and should be lifted at once.

During a hearing before the Supreme Court on October 23 — in which RSF participated as an interested party having contributed an amicus brief in the petition by the Jerusalem-based Foreign Press Association (FPA) — the Israeli government acknowledged that the ceasefire constituted a significant change in circumstances justifying a review of its policy on journalists’ access.

The court ordered the Israeli government to present a clear position on its blockade in light of the new circumstances but granted it another 30 days to do this, despite the urgency of the situation and although the Israeli government had already benefited from six postponements since the start of these proceedings.

“If the blockade preventing journalists from entering Gaza was already illegal and seriously violated the fundamental right to information of the Palestinian, Israeli, and international public, it is now totally unjustifiable,” said RSF director-general Thibaut Bruttin.

“RSF deplores the Supreme Court’s decision to give the Israeli government 30 days to reach this obvious conclusion, and calls on the Israeli government to open Gaza’s borders to journalists immediately and without conditions.”

Israel has closed off Gaza and denied external journalists’ independent access to the besieged territory since 7 October 2023.

To counter this ban, RSF has joined the FPA’s petition for the Gaza Strip’s borders to be opened to independent entry by journalists, and filed an amicus brief with the Israeli Supreme Court on October 15 that was designed to help the judges understand the FPA’s position.

Who killed Shireen?
Meanwhile, an investigation into Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh’s assassination reveals new evidence and cover-ups by Israeli and US governments.

This major investigative documentary examines the facts surrounding the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Akleh, as she was reporting in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, in May 2022.

Palestine: Who killed Shireen?         Video: Al Jazeera

It sets out to discover who killed her — and after months of painstaking research, succeeds in identifying the Israeli sniper who pulled the trigger.

Eleven Al Jazeera journalists have been killed by the Israeli military among at least 248 Gaza media workers slain by the IDF, reports Anadolu Ajansı,

A UN spokesman on Friday marked the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists yesterday with a reminder of the dangers faced by journalists worldwide — particularly in the Gaza Strip.

“Nearly nine out of 10 journalists killings remain unresolved. Gaza has been the deadliest place for journalists in any conflict,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesman to the UN secretary-general, told reporters.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “independent, impartial” investigations into the killings of journalists, emphasising that “impunity is an assault on press freedom and a threat to democracy itself,” Dujarric said.

“When journalists are silenced, we all lose our voice,” he said.

Pacific Media Watch collaborates with Reporters Without Borders.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Pacific Media Watch supports the call by the Paris-based global media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) for justice for the victims of crimes against journalists in Gaza, and its demand for immediate access to the Palestinian enclave for exiled journalists and foreign press.

The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, confirmed on Friday, 10 October 2025, came after two years of unprecedented massacres against the press in Gaza.

Since October 2023, the Israeli army has killed nearly 220 journalists, including at least 56 slain due to their work.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which has filed five complaints with the International Criminal Court, has called in a statement for justice for the victims, and the urgent evacuation of media professionals who wish to leave.

The ceasefire agreement in Gaza under US President Donald Trump’s peace plan has so far failed to produce an end to the media blockade imposed on the besieged Palestinian territory.

According to RSF information, several bombings struck the north of Gaza on the day the agreement was announced, 9 October. One of them wounded Abu Dhabi TV photojournalist Arafat al-Khour while he was documenting the damage in the Sabra neighbourhood in the centre of Gaza City.

While the agreement approved by the Israeli government and Hamas leaders allows humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, it does not explicitly mention authorising access for the foreign press or the possibility of evacuating local journalists.

‘Absolute urgency’
Jonathan Dagher, head of the RSF Middle East Desk, said in a statement: “The relief of a ceasefire in Gaza must not distract from the absolute urgency of the catastrophic situation facing journalists in the territory.

“Nearly 220 of them have been killed by the Israeli army in two years, and the reporters still alive in Gaza need immediate care, equipment and support. They also need justice — more than ever.

“If the impunity for the crimes committed against them continues, they will be repeated in Gaza, Palestine and elsewhere in the world. To bring justice to Gaza’s reporters and to protect the right to information around the world, we demand arrest warrants for the perpetrators of crimes against our fellow journalists in Gaza.

“RSF is counting on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to act on the complaints we filed for war crimes committed against these journalists. It’s high time that the international community’s response matched the courage shown by Palestinian reporters over the past two years.”

Since the start of the Israeli offensive in Gaza in October 2023, the Israeli army has killed nearly 220 journalists in the besieged territory. At least 56 of these victims were directly targeted or killed due to their work, according to RSF, which has filed five complaints with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the past two years, seeking justice for these journalists and end impunity for the crimes against them.

In addition to killing news professionals on the ground and in their homes, the Israeli army has also targeted newsrooms, telecommunications infrastructure and journalistic equipment.

Famine hits journalists
Famine continues to afflict civilians in the Strip, including journalists, yet aid is barely trickling in and all communication services have been destroyed by two years of bombing.

On October 9, Israeli authorities and Hamas leaders reached a 20-point ceasefire agreement in Cairo, Egypt’s capital, as part of Donald Trump’s plan to establish “lasting peace” in the region.

This is the second ceasefire in Gaza since 7 October 2023, the first put in place at the beginning of the year and broken in March 2025, shortly after a strike killed the renowned Al Jazeera journalist Hossam Shabat.

Israel is ranked 112th among the 180 nations surveyed by the annual RSF World Press Freedom Index and Palestine is 163rd.

Pacific Media Watch collaborates with Reporters Without Borders.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Today, 1 September 2025, is being marked as a Black Monday following the latest deadly strikes by the Israeli army against journalists in the Gaza Strip as part of a worldwide action by the Paris-based global media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders and the community politics organisation Avaaz.

On August 25, one of these strikes targeted a building in the al-Nasser medical complex in central Gaza, a known workplace for reporters, killing five journalists and staff members of local and international media outlets such as Reuters and the Associated Press.

Two weeks earlier, on the night of August 10, an Israeli strike killed six reporters, including Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif, who was the intended target.

According to RSF data, more than 210 journalists have been killed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip in nearly 23 months of Israeli military operations in the Palestinian territory.

At least 56 of them were intentionally targeted by the Israeli army or killed while doing their job. This ongoing massacre of Palestinian journalists requires a large-scale operation highly visible to the general public.

With this unprecedented mobilisation planned for today, RSF renews its call for urgent protection for Palestinian media professionals in the Gaza Strip, a demand endorsed by over 200 media outlets and organisations in June.

Independent access
The NGO also calls for foreign press to be granted independent access to the Strip, which Israeli authorities have so far denied.

“The Israeli army killed five journalists in two strikes on Monday, August 25. Just two weeks earlier, it similarly killed six journalists in a single strike,” said Thibaut Bruttin, executive director of RSF.

“Since 7 October 2023, more than 220 Palestinian journalists have been killed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.

“We reject this deadly new norm, which week after week brings new crimes against Palestinian journalists that go unpunished. We say it loud and clear: at the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza by the Israeli army, there will soon be no one left to keep you informed.

“More than 150 media outlets worldwide have joined together for a major operation on Monday, 1 September, at the call of RSF and Avaaz.

“This campaign calls on world leaders to do their duty: stop the Israeli army from committing these crimes against journalists, resume the evacuation of the journalists who wish to leave Gaza, and ensure the foreign press has independent access to the Palestinian territory.

RSF accuses Israel of targeting the press          Video: Al Jazeera

More than 150 media outlets in over 50 countries are taking part in the operation on Monday, 1 September.

They include numerous daily newspapers and news websites: Mediapart (France), Al Jazeera (Qatar), The Independent (United Kingdom), +972 Magazine (Israel/Palestine), Local Call (Israel/Palestine), InfoLibre (Spain), Forbidden Stories (France), Frankfurter Rundschau (Germany), Der Freitag (Germany), RTVE (Spain), L’Humanité (France), The New Arab (United Kingdom), Daraj (Lebanon), New Bloom (Taiwan), Photon Media (Hong Kong), La Voix du Centre (Cameroon), Guinée Matin (Guinea), The Point (Gambia), L’Orient Le Jour (Lebanon), Media Today (South Korea), N1 (Serbia), KOHA (Kosovo), Public Interest Journalism Lab (Ukraine), Il Dubbio (Italy), Intercept Brasil (Brazil), Agência Pública (Brazil), Le Soir (Belgium), La Libre (Belgium), Le Desk (Morocco), Semanario Brecha (Uruguay), Asia Pacific Report, Evening Report and Stuff (New Zealand) and many others.

Pacific Media Watch collaborates with Reporters Without Borders.

NZ media workers call for ‘decisive action’ by Luxon over Gaza journalists

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

In an unprecedented international operation organised by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the global campaigning movement Avaaz, more than 250 news outlets from over 70 countries simultaneously blacked out their front pages and website homepages, and interrupt their broadcasting to condemn the murder of journalists by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.

Together, these newsrooms — including Asia Pacific Report, Evening Report and Pacific Media Watch — have demanded an end to impunity for Israeli crimes against Gaza’s reporters, the emergency evacuation of reporters seeking to leave the Strip and that foreign press be granted independent access to the territory.

For the first time in recent history, newsrooms across the world have coordinated a large-scale editorial protest in solidarity with journalists in Gaza.

The front pages of print newspapers were published in black with a strong written message.

Television and radio stations interrupted their programmes to broadcast a joint statement.

Online media outlets blacked out their homepages or published a banner as a sign of solidarity.

Individual journalists have also joined the campaign and posted messages on their social media accounts.

About 220 journalists have been killed during Israel’s current war on Gaza since it began on 7 October 2023, according to RSF data.

However, independent analysis by Al Jazeera reveals that at least 278 journalists and media workers have been killed by Israel over the past 22 months, including 10 from the network.

On the night of August 10 alone, the Israeli army killed six journalists in a targeted strike against Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif.

Fifteen days later, on August 25, the Israeli army killed five journalists in two consecutive strikes.

Parallel to these killings, the Israeli army has barred foreign journalists from entering the Strip for nearly two years, leaving Palestinian journalists to cover the war while under fire.

“At the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza by the Israeli army, there will soon be no one left to keep you informed.,” said Thibaut Bruttin, director-general of RSF.

“This isn’t just a war against Gaza, it’s a war against journalism. Journalists are being targeted, killed and defamed. Without them, who will alert us to the famine?

Who will expose war crimes? Who will show us the genocides?

“Shame on our profession for silence.”     Video: Al Jazeera

“Ten years after the unanimous adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2222, the whole world is witnessing the erosion of guarantees of international law for the protection of journalists.

“Solidarity from newsrooms and journalists around the world is essential. They should be thanked — this fraternity between reporters is what will save press freedom.

“Solidarity will save all freedoms.”

In line with the call launched by RSF and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in June, the media outlets involved in this campaign are making four demands.

• We demand the protection of Palestinian journalists and an end to the impunity for crimes perpetrated by the Israeli army against them in the Gaza Strip;
• We demand the foreign press be granted independent access to the Gaza Strip;
• We demand that governments across the world host Palestinian journalists seeking evacuation from Gaza; and
• With the opening of the 80th UN General Assembly taking place in eight days, we demand strong action from the international community and call on the UN Security Council to stop the Israeli army’s crimes against Palestinian journalists

More than 250 media outlets in over 70 countries around the world prepared to join the operation on Monday, 1 September.

They include numerous daily newspapers and news websites: Mediapart (France), Al Jazeera (Qatar), The Independent (United Kingdom), +972 Magazine (Israel/Palestine), Local Call (Israel/Palestine), InfoLibre (Spain), Forbidden Stories (France), Frankfurter Rundschau (Germany), Der Freitag (Germany), RTVE (Spain), L’Humanité (France), The New Arab (United Kingdom), Daraj (Lebanon), New Bloom (Taiwan), Photon Media (Hong Kong), La Voix du Centre (Cameroon), Guinée Matin (Guinea), The Point (Gambia), L’Orient Le Jour (Lebanon), Media Today (South Korea), N1 (Serbia), KOHA (Kosovo), Public Interest Journalism Lab (Ukraine), Il Dubbio (Italy), Intercept Brasil (Brazil), Agência Pública (Brazil), Le Soir (Belgium), La Libre (Belgium), Le Desk (Morocco), Semanario Brecha (Uruguay), Asia Pacific Report, Evening Report and Stuff (New Zealand) and many others.

International media have been denied free access to the Gaza Strip since the war broke out.

A few selected outlets have embedded reporters with Israeli army units operating in Gaza under the condition of strict military censorship.

Israel has killed at least 63,459 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

Pacific Media Watch cooperates with Reporters Without Borders.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Today, 1 September 2025, is being marked as a Black Monday following the latest deadly strikes by the Israeli army against journalists in the Gaza Strip as part of a worldwide action by the Paris-based global media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders and the community politics organisation Avaaz.

On August 25, one of these strikes targeted a building in the al-Nasser medical complex in central Gaza, a known workplace for reporters, killing five journalists and staff members of local and international media outlets such as Reuters and the Associated Press.

Two weeks earlier, on the night of August 10, an Israeli strike killed six reporters, including Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif, who was the intended target.

According to RSF data, more than 210 journalists have been killed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip in nearly 23 months of Israeli military operations in the Palestinian territory.

At least 56 of them were intentionally targeted by the Israeli army or killed while doing their job. This ongoing massacre of Palestinian journalists requires a large-scale operation highly visible to the general public.

With this unprecedented mobilisation planned for today, RSF renews its call for urgent protection for Palestinian media professionals in the Gaza Strip, a demand endorsed by over 200 media outlets and organisations in June.

Independent access
The NGO also calls for foreign press to be granted independent access to the Strip, which Israeli authorities have so far denied.

“The Israeli army killed five journalists in two strikes on Monday, August 25. Just two weeks earlier, it similarly killed six journalists in a single strike,” said Thibaut Bruttin, executive director of RSF.

“Since 7 October 2023, more than 210 Palestinian journalists have been killed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.

“We reject this deadly new norm, which week after week brings new crimes against Palestinian journalists that go unpunished. We say it loud and clear: at the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza by the Israeli army, there will soon be no one left to keep you informed.

“More than 150 media outlets worldwide have joined together for a major operation on Monday, 1 September, at the call of RSF and Avaaz.

“This campaign calls on world leaders to do their duty: stop the Israeli army from committing these crimes against journalists, resume the evacuation of the journalists who wish to leave Gaza, and ensure the foreign press has independent access to the Palestinian territory.

More than 150 media outlets in over 50 countries aretaking part in the operation on Monday, 1 September.

They include numerous daily newspapers and news websites: Mediapart (France), Al Jazeera (Qatar), The Independent (United Kingdom), +972 Magazine (Israel/Palestine), Local Call (Israel/Palestine), InfoLibre (Spain), Forbidden Stories (France), Frankfurter Rundschau (Germany), Der Freitag (Germany), RTVE (Spain), L’Humanité (France), The New Arab (United Kingdom), Daraj (Lebanon), New Bloom (Taiwan), Photon Media (Hong Kong), La Voix du Centre (Cameroon), Guinée Matin (Guinea), The Point (Gambia), L’Orient Le Jour (Lebanon), Media Today (South Korea), N1 (Serbia), KOHA (Kosovo), Public Interest Journalism Lab (Ukraine), Il Dubbio (Italy), Intercept Brasil (Brazil), Agência Pública (Brazil), Le Soir (Belgium), La Libre (Belgium), Le Desk (Morocco), Semanario Brecha (Uruguay), Asia Pacific Report (New Zealand) and many others.

Pacific Media Watch collaborates with Reporters Without Borders.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

An Al Jazeera journalist who has documented Israel’s trail of atrocities for almost the past two years has condemned Western news agencies covering the war on Gaza as treating Palestinian reporters like “robots”.

“You see how Palestinian journalists are treated. There’s no protection when they are alive,” Hind Khoudary told Al Jazeera from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.

“And after they are killed, no one even mentions them.”

She said today was a “very, very angry morning” after five journalists were killed yesterday among at least 21 people, including medical workers, at al-Nasser Medical Centre in a “double tap” strike by the Israeli military.

The slain news professionals have been named as Hossam al-Masri, a freelance photographer for the Reuters news agency; Mariam Abu Daqqa, freelance journalist for The Independent and the Associated Press (AP); Moaz Abu Taha, correspondent for the American broadcasting network NBC; Mohamad Salama, press photographer for Al Jazeera; and Ahmed Abu Aziz, freelance journalist working for Middle East Eye and the Tunisian radio station Diwan FM, who died later from his injuries.

“Palestinian journalists do not know how to mourn their five colleagues and there’s a wave of anger at the international news agencies.

“Many news outlets [that the killed journalists worked for] did not even mention their contributors. The Reuters news agency did not mention in their headline their cameraman who had been working for them for months.

“In their article, they simply described him as a Reuters ‘contractor’.

‘Not mentioned’
As for Moaz Abu Taha [another journalist killed in the Nasser medical centre attack], not a single news organisation that he was working for said he was working for them,” she said.

“Palestinian journalists have been risking their lives for 23 months now, and after they are killed, they are not even mentioned in headlines.

“In the end, they are mentioned as ‘contractors’, as ‘freelancers’ – while, when they were alive, they were working 24/7 to produce, fix and document for these news outlets.

“This is how most Palestinian journalists feel — that we’re just being used as robots to report on what’s going on because there are no foreign journalists.

“We get killed and then everyone forgets about us.”

Gaza’s silenced voices.     Video: Al Jazeera

RSF ‘fiercely condemns’ killings
The Paris-based media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) “fiercely condemned” the latest killings, saying they came after the murder of Khaled al-Madhoun on Saturday, 23 August 23.

This was a toll of six journalists killed in two days. It follows the killing of six other journalists two weeks ago on August 10.

According to RSF information, all were deliberately targeted. RSF again called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to “end this massacre of journalists”.

Thibaut Bruttin, director-general of RSF, said: How far will the Israeli armed forces go in their gradual effort to eliminate information coming from Gaza? How long will they continue to defy international humanitarian law?

“The protection of journalists is guaranteed by international law, yet more than 200 of them have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza over the past two years.

“Ten years after the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2222, which protects journalists in times of conflict, the Israeli army is flouting its application.

“RSF calls for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to ensure this resolution is finally respected, and that concrete measures are taken to end impunity for crimes against journalists, protect Palestinian journalists, and open access to the Gaza Strip to all reporters.”

‘Suicide drone’
According to Al Jazeera, the first strike on the live broadcast post that killed Hossam al-Masri was carried out using a loitering munition — also known as a “suicide drone” — typically equipped with a camera and an explosive charge.

A Reuters article also confirmed the death of its contractor, Hussam al-Masri.

The second strike 8 minutes later targeted the hospital yet again after rescue teams and journalists had arrived.

The Al-Nasser complex is a well-known gathering place for displaced journalists in Gaza who, since October 2023, have been living in tents around the hospital to access information on injured and deceased patients, as well as available facilities.

Targeted Murder. This is what israeli nazis do.. pic.twitter.com/RL8mc1YCMW

— Ali (@MerruX) August 25, 2025

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Paris-based media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned the Israeli military’s “disgraceful tactic” to cover up war crimes in the wake of the killing of six journalists in Gaza on Sunday.

It has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to stop the massacre of journalists, RSF said in a statement.

“RSF strongly condemns the killing of six media professionals by the Israeli army, once again carried out under the guise of terrorism charges against a journalist,” said RSF’s  director-general Thibaut Bruttin.

“One of the most famous journalists in the Gaza Strip, Anas al-Sharif, was among those killed.

“The Israeli army has killed more than 200 journalists since the start of the war. This massacre and Israel’s media blackout strategy, designed to conceal the crimes committed by its army for more than 21 months in the besieged and starving Palestinian enclave, must be stopped immediately.

“The international community can no longer turn a blind eye and must react and put an end to this impunity.

“RSF calls on the UN Security Council to meet urgently on the basis of Resolution 2222 of 2015 on the protection of journalists in times of armed conflict in order to stop this carnage.”

Targeted strike on tent
The Israeli army killed Al Jazeera reporter Anas al-Sharif in a targeted strike on a tent housing a group of journalists near al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.

The strike, claimed by Israeli authorities, also killed five other media professionals, including four working or having worked for Al Jazeera — correspondent Mohammed Qraiqea, video reporter Ibrahim al-Thaher, Mohamed Nofal, assistant cameraman and driver that day, and Moamen Aliwa, a freelance journalist who worked with Al Jazeera — as well as another freelance journalist, Mohammed al-Khaldi, creator of a YouTube news channel.

The attack also wounded freelance reporters Mohammed Sobh, Mohammed Qita, and Ahmed al-Harazine.

This attack, claimed by the Israeli army, replicates a tactic previously used against Al Jazeera journalists. On 31 July 2024, the Israeli army killed reporters Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi in a targeted strike, following a smear campaign against the former, who, like Anas al-Sharif, was accused of “terrorist affiliation”.

Hamza al-Dahdouh, Mustafa Thuraya and Hossam Shabat, who also worked for the Qatari media outlet, are among the victims of this method denounced by RSF.

As early as October 2024, RSF warned of an imminent attack on Anas al-Sharif following accusations by the Israeli army.

The international community, led by the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States, ignored these warnings.

Under Resolution 2222 of 2015 on the protection of journalists in armed conflict, the UN Security Council has a duty to convene urgently in response to this latest extrajudicial killing by the Israeli army.

Since October 2023, RSF has filed four complaints with the International Criminal Court (ICC) requesting investigations into what it describes as war crimes committed by the Israeli army against journalists in Gaza.

The New Zealand-based Pacific Media Watch collaborates with Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz