Global Investigative Journalism Network (https://archive.gijn.org/category/press-freedom/page/4/)
At the plenary session of GIJC21, an all-star team of five watchdog editors defined the front lines of a battle among investigative journalists for both democratic ideals and the survival of an independent press. The conference brings together 1,800 editors, reporters, and civil society leaders from 148 countries for an online, five-day event.
A panel of Asia experts at GIJC21 unanimously agreed that press freedom in the region faces a bleak future, as governments increasingly use digital platforms to manipulate communities and increase hostility towards journalists.
Marking the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, a panel of experts at GIJC21 revealed that investigating journalist murders can not only turn impunity into justice, but can also deter ruthless actors from potential future violence.
In a RightsCon session hosted by GIJN, three editors shared survival strategies for independent newsrooms in authoritarian nations, as threats to the press, and institutions of accountability, grow around the world. They described a form of journalistic judo, where journalists can find advantages in the very tactics used to repress them.
In an environment of increasing restrictions on civic organizations and impunity for crimes against press professionals, independent media in Guatemala are battling threats on several fronts. Here, journalists from three Guatemalan digital media outlets detail the strategies and tools they are using both to survive and to produce quality investigative stories.
Monday, May 3, is World Press Freedom Day, a global day of recognition for journalists around the world, particularly those who are standing up for truth and revealing information in the public interest despite political intimidation, government oppression, and threats of violence.
The Global Investigative Journalism Network condemns the raid today on the Moscow apartment of Roman Anin, one of Russia’s leading independent journalists, by agents of the Federal Security Bureau. Mr. Anin, the editor of IStories, is widely regarded as one of the world’s top investigative reporters, and this move by officials can only be interpreted as an attempt to silence his journalism.
Investigative reporting is getting harder and harder as autocratic governments crack down on media and government-friendly oligarchs use the courts to silence independent voices. The Philippine online news organization Rappler and its CEO and Executive Editor Maria Ressa are experiencing this firsthand, as Ressa was convicted last week on baseless “cyber libel” charges.