Press freedom issues

Guardian editorial  -   Press freedom is at its lowest ebb for a quarter of a century, Reporters Without Borders said this spring, judging more than half of the 180 countries it surveys to have “difficult” or “very serious” conditions for journalists. The rising tide of war worldwide is also increasing the pressures and dangers: the Committee to Protect Journalists recorded a new peak of 129 deaths of reporters and other media workers in 2025. Unesco said last week that almost nine out of 10 killings of journalists go unpunished.

High-quality journalism has never been more necessary in a world of rising conflict, AI slop and malicious fabrications spreading on platforms run by big tech firms who barely nod to ethical responsibilities. As Ms Attalah herself has pointed out, the disappearance of professional media organisations enlarges the space for conspiracies and disinformation.

Yet while the US previously pressed the case of threatened journalists overseas, sometimes helping to ease their conditions, it is now led by a man who has called news media “the enemy of the American people”, whose FBI raided a correspondent’s home in January, and who is currently pursuing a $10bn lawsuit against the BBC. Donald Trump has also sought to dismantle federally funded organisations which were an important source of independent reporting on many repressive nations.

This week, an appeals court panel ruled that the administration had illegally fired the head of Voice of America. VoA, Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe have all struggled on thanks to dedicated staff, though hugely diminished. Recent elections in Serbia, Brazil and the US are evidence that journalism, alongside activism, can stem the erosion of democracy. Thousands of people protested in Turkey last month against Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s media crackdown. Large parts of the public still want the truth and, against the odds, courageous journalists worldwide persist in finding it out and sharing it. That authoritarians target them so relentlessly only testifies to their importance.