Journalists under fire

The tactics used to target journalists in the U.S. are both shaped by and shaping attacks against press freedom around the world. In a September 2024 op-ed A.G. Sulzberger, the publisher of the New York Times, described countries like Hungary, India and Brazil as similar to the U.S., with leaders like Trump and Bolsonaro swapping tactics for targeting journalists and sowing public distrust against the media.
According to the 2024 World Press Freedom Index, attacks against press freedom are intensifying in every corner of the world. Investigating the case study of journalists covering the 2024 U.S. elections provides an indicator of the crackdowns that happen against journalists within democracies. This year, the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) set out on an ambitious initiative to provide safety training to as many local U.S. journalists as possible ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential elections, and we collected in-depth survey and interview data from 610 journalists who attended the IWMF’s safety trainings across 11 states. The resulting report, Journalists Under Fire: U.S. Media Report Daily Threats, Harassment and Attacks at Home, revealed a shocking number of threats to American journalists’ safety and wellbeing, ranging from physical violence to gun violence, verbal attacks and sexual harassment while on assignment.
Internationally, in collaboration with feminist-led international organizations advocating for journalist safety, the Safety in Numbers initiative is supporting newsrooms internationally with policy development and identity-informed safety training with a focus on three regions - Asia-Pacific, Sub-Saharan African and Latin America & the Caribbean.
The IWMF will lead this panel to discuss the journalist safety situation in the U.S. and the international parallels we are finding through these programs. We will discuss the findings of our Journalists Under Fire report and the ongoing work of the Safety in Numbers consortium.
The session will include actionable recommendations for newsrooms and media NGOs to enhance staff and freelancer safety around the world. The objective of this work, and this panel, is to foster a culture of safety in newsrooms and to demonstrate that regardless of size or budget, it is possible for all newsrooms to implement policies that protect their journalists.
Introduced by Kathy Im.
Moderated by Elisa Lees Muñoz.
Organised in association with International Women’s Media Foundation.