Defending press freedom in a challenging global climate
Journalists and advocates continued to confront threats to the press worldwide, from violence to legal pressure.
Journalists and press-freedom advocates continued to confront a challenging global climate this year, as threats to the press persisted and in some places intensified, from violence and imprisonment to legal harassment, intimidation and the broader pressures weighing on independent journalism around the world.
Across many countries, journalists faced serious dangers in the course of their work, including violence, detention and legal action, and press-freedom organisations documented ongoing concerns about the safety of reporters and the conditions for independent journalism in numerous parts of the world.
The threats took many forms: physical danger to those covering conflict and crime, the imprisonment and detention of journalists, legal harassment through lawsuits and restrictive laws, economic pressures, and the broader erosion of the conditions necessary for a free press to function.
The spread of disinformation, the hostility toward the media in the political discourse of many countries, and the power of technology platforms over the flow of information added further dimensions to the challenges confronting journalism and the public's access to reliable news.
In response, journalists, news organisations and advocacy groups continued their efforts to defend press freedom, to support and protect journalists at risk, to seek accountability for crimes against the press, and to make the case for the vital importance of independent journalism to open societies.
The ongoing struggle to defend press freedom underscored the enduring importance, and fragility, of the conditions that allow journalism to flourish and to perform its essential role in society. The challenges facing the press worldwide served as a reminder that press freedom cannot be taken for granted but must be continually defended, and that the work of journalists, often undertaken at considerable risk, remains vital to informing the public and holding power to account, a cause as important in the present age as at any time in the history of the press.