Join the SPJ International Community and the Washington DC SPJ chapter for an online discussion with Kirstin McCudden, Vice President of Editorial at Freedom of the Press Foundation and Managing Editor at US Press Freedom Tracker, about these and other threats to press freedom in the United States.
Monday, February 10 at 6pm ET
Register HERE.
Challenges to the independence of the news media, statements designed to warn off journalists from certain stories and outright physical threats are on the rise in the United States.
There were 314 incidents of violations of press freedom in the United States during 2024, according to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. The actions ranged from the Kansas legislature banning reporting from the House floor to a Colorado reporter being choked outside his TV station to numerous search orders against news organizations.
Things are not expected to look much better in 2025. Already Trump Administration officials have threatened increased investigations into leaks to the press; more criminal prosecution of journalists and stepped-up government surveillance of the press. A recent report from the Department of Justice Inspector General report detailed the illicit seizures of reporters records during 2020-2021.
Recent moves by the Pentagon have already taken back desk space used by long-time news organizations such as the New York Times and National Public Radio. The spaces were given to other non-traditional news groups, some of whom do not yet have a dedicated Pentagon correspondent.
The conversation facilitator will be Nerissa Young a professor of instruction in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University and a 31-year member of the Society of Professional Journalists. She advises the 10-time national SPJ campus chapter of the year at Ohio University. Young teaches International Mass Media and Foreign Correspondence courses, among others. She previously taught journalism at Oklahoma State University, Shepherd University and Marshall University, where she earned her master’s degree in journalism.
About this event
For details – https://www.unesco.org/en/days/press-freedom
Join the SPJ D.C. Pro Chapter on Monday, May 19 at 6 p.m. ET for a discussion on AI and FOIA. Alex Ebermann, President, New York Coalition for Open Government, and Irwin McCullough, Co-Founder, FOIA Friend, will discuss the pros and cons of integrating AI in the records requesting process and how journalists can use AI as a tool.
The session will be moderated by freelance journalist James Mae.
Register HERE.
Getting Out Is Just the First Step: What Refugees Must Go Through To Reach Safety And Then Face In Exile
September 2, 2025 at 1:00 pm ET
Register HERE.
Each year dozens, if not hundreds, of journalists are forced to flee their home countries because of threats to them and their families.
Just getting refugee status can be a demeaning and exhausting process. Once status is granted, the refugee and family face another issue: How to survive in their new country. Many countries limit the types of work allowed to people with refugee status. Too many journalists and other professionals are relegated to work that does not allow them to prosper or from the host country to benefit from their skills and talents.
Join us for an in-depth discussion that looks at what leads people to flee their home country and what issues they face once they are safely out. The panelists will also discuss what the local journalism communities can do to help these people.
PANELISTS
Taha Siddiqui is a Pakistani investigative journalist who has been living in exile in France since 2018. In Pakistan, he reported for leading international media such as the New York Times, the Guardian and France24. He had to flee his homeland after surviving a kidnapping and assassination attempt. Pakistani army officials threatened him, hoping to censor his reporting on military abuse in the country. In 2019, he was informed by French and American authorities that his name was on a Pakistani state-sanctioned kill List
In Paris he founded the DISSIDENT club, a bar where dissidents of the world meet. He recently published his first book – an autobiography as a graphic novel called Dissident Club, named after his bar which documents his journey from growing up in an Islamist family to becoming an atheist and his fight for freedom of expression and religion.
Kami Rice has been working as a freelance writer and editor for years.
She is also the co-founder of Allied Shepherd, which works to help endangered Afghans seeking safety in other countries.
Based in Europe, she travels the world widely, with a particular interest in how policies and geopolitical maneuvering affect regular people. Anthrow Circus is a mixed media collection crafted by artists and journalists working as creative anthropologists to examine culture and society.
Moderator
Jessica Jerreat is an award-winning journalist with nearly 25 years’ experience in local and international news and press freedom for organizations including the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists and The Times of London. She joined the Voice of America March 2020 and currently holds the enviable title of Press Freedom Editor.
Jerreat is a plaintiff in an ongoing lawsuit against the Trump Administration over its policy of closing the US Agency for Global Media, the parent agency for VOA.
A no-agenda, no holds barred get together sponsored by the SPJ International Community. Just a chance to meet and chat.
Sign up HERE.
The murders of investigative journalist Regina Martínez and photojournalist Rubén Espinosa, about 10 years ago became the inspiration for “Cocodrilos,” the debut fictional feature film by director J. Xavier Velasco. The film is a thriller that looks at the cost of seeking the truth where collusion between authorities and organized crime is the main threat to people’s right to be informed.
Join the SPJ International Community on Sept. 23 at 6:00 pm ET as we talk with Velasco about his film and his views on the importance of independent and free media.
Those signing up for the webinar will receive a free link to view the movie during the week before our session.
Sign up HERE.
The world celebrates World News Day. The SPJ has been proud to have offered our support to those fighting for press freedom around the world. Unfortunately, the battle at home is getting a bit more intense.
Last year the organizers noted: “World’s democracies depend on news media for their very existence. And yet they are both dying. It’s time we all get involved.” The message of 2024 is just as important today.
Join the Press Freedom Team on Tuesday, October 7 at 6 p.m. for an upcoming reception at the National Press Club!
National Press Club members and Press Freedom Center staff will be joined by Alsu Kurmasheva, who will discuss her work as a press freedom advocate, and provide updates on recent press freedom developments in Europe and Russia.
This reception is designed to bring the Club community together and celebrate the vital work of the Press Freedom Center. Don’t miss a chance to learn more about how the Press Freedom Center is advancing press freedom initiatives through personal engagement and meaningful intervention – and how Club members can support and amplify that work.
Book tickets HERE.
Alsu Kurmasheva is an award-winning journalist and editor at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), where she has reported extensively on cultural and human rights issues in Russia’s Volga-Ural region. She first joined RFE/RL in 1998 as a radio program moderator and has since built a career covering the experiences of ethnic minorities in Russia. Her reporting has also focused on gender issues, with in-depth investigations into domestic violence and women’s rights.
In October 2023, Kurmasheva was detained in Russia and charged with spreading “false” information about the Russian military, a charge linked to her alleged role in distributing a book featuring accounts from Russians opposed to the invasion of Ukraine. Held for more than nine months, in July 2024, Alsu Kurmasheva was sentenced to six and a half years in prison. In August 2024, she was released as part of a prisoner exchange that also saw the return of fellow American journalist Evan Gershkovich.
Following her release from detention in Russia, Alsu Kurmasheva has emerged as a vocal advocate for press freedom, drawing on her own experience of imprisonment to highlight the risks journalists face in authoritarian regimes.
Last year, shortly after her release from Russian prison, Alsu was interviewed by the SPJ International Community along with Daniel Fenster, who was held by the Myanmar government in 2021. The two talked about how they dealt with their imprisonment for “doing journalism” and why so many authoritarian governments fear free and independent news reporting.
You can view the interview below.
Did you know?
- 162 journalists have been killed in the line of duty in 2023-2024.
- 85 % of cases of journalists’ killings since 2006 are still unresolved or abandoned.
- The number of women journalists killed in 2022 was at its highest level since 2017, with 10 cases.
- Almost half of the deaths took place in countries experiencing armed conflict, compared with 38% in the previous two years.
Read more about the day HERE.