Journalism Under Fire

In a World where fake news, disinformation and conspiracy theories are rife, the freedom of journalists to report is under attack from the people who would really rather not have the spotlight shone into the murky corners they inhabit and that is not just in authoritarian states but is happening right under the noses of people in nations which are considered democratic.  
The UK Government have a draft legislation which would criminalise journalists if they reported or handled information that could be deemed likely to assist a foreign power and it was only the intervention by the European Court of Human Rights which called a halt plans to make MI5 and other agencies able to access journalists communications.
According to the annual World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), attacks on press freedom around the world are intensifying with political attacks on journalists including detention, suppression of independent media outlets and widespread dissemination of misinformation.
The Middle East regions performed the worst in terms of restrictions and controls on journalists by government forces through violence, arrests and draconian laws, compounded by violence against journalists.
Since October 2023, over 100 Palestinian reporters have been killed by Israel in Gaza and journalists have been killed in Sudan, Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon while four of the world’s biggest jailers of journalists are Israel, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran.
Latin America has increased political repression of journalism, Argentina's new president, Javier Milei, has boasted about his assault on the free press and has shut down the country’s biggest new agency and the US has performed badly due to increasing attacks on journalists from political officials, including public calls to imprison reporters.
There has been 20 journalists killed in Nigeria and reporters were targeted in Madagascar while covering anti-Government protests and Burkino Faso has suspended dozens of foreign news organisations after reporting on the alleged massacre of hundreds of civilians by the military.
In Russia, over 1500 journalists have fled abroad since 2022 and Belarus has banned all independent media under the pretext of combating extremism while China has detained more journalists than any other country in the world and reporting in Afghanistan and North Korea is banned and Vietnam and Myanmar have been undertaking mass imprisonment of journalists.
Journalists gather, assess, create and present news and information to the public, ensuring citizens are informed while acting as a check on power, holding the government and other institutions accountable and stand as a bulwark against a tide of misinformation which is exactly why government and other institutions are trying to undermine and lessen the freedom for us to do our jobs effectively.