In a notorious high-security prison, Evan Gershkovich of The Wall Street Journal stays connected with supporters through letters as they keep up the pressure for his release.
RTDNA President-CEO Dan Shelley says TV news’ credibility is on the line in this election year as never before, and he has some advice on how stations can recapture viewers’ trust. A full transcript of the conversation is included.
Al Jazeera Journalist Hamza Dahdouh and freelancer Mustafa Thuraya were killed Sunday (Jan. 7) in an Israeli airstrike in the Western part of Gaza, according to Al Jazeera. Dahdouh was the son of Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief, Wael Dahdouh, whose wife Amna; grandchild Adam; son Mahmoud, and seven-year-old daughter Sham, were killed in an airstrike back in October. The journalists were said to be trying to interview displaced civilians when they were killed.
Media Person of the Year: Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who represents those willing to dedicate their lives to shining a light on the truth. (Dmitry Serebryakov/AP)
More journalists have been killed in the first 10 weeks of the Israel-Gaza war than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year, according to Committee to Protect Journalists data. By Dec. 20, at least 68 journalists and media workers had been killed since the Oct. 7 start of the conflict. Of those 68, 61 were Palestinian, four Israeli, and three Lebanese.
Exclusives
News Leaders Focus On Journalist Protection, Stress In Fraught ’24
Top news executives from Tegna, Hearst Television, Spectrum News and The Weather Channel told a NewsTECHForum panel last week that safety, security, mental-health services and higher pay are all top prerogatives in a more dangerous and stressful newsroom environment.
A man accused of holding an Atlanta News First crew against their will has been arrested in Clayton County. Gray’s Atlanta News First (WANF) reporter Asia Wilson and photojournalist Lauren Swaim were preparing to give a live report from the parking lot of the Clayton County Sheriff’s office just before the 11 p.m. newscast on Monday. That’s when the crew said a man approached them, indicated he had a gun, and threatened to shoot them if they called for help. About an hour and a half into the encounter, police arrived at the scene and took the man into custody.
An Israeli tank crew killed a Reuters journalist and wounded six reporters in Lebanon on Oct. 13 by firing two shells in quick succession from Israel while the journalists were filming cross-border shelling, a Reuters investigation has found. The two strikes killed Reuters visuals journalist Issam Abdallah, 37, and severely wounded Agence France-Presse photographer Christina Assi, 28, just over a kilometre from the Israeli border near the Lebanese village of Alma al-Chaab.
U.S. negotiators made a fresh offer to Russia in recent weeks to secure the release of detained Americans Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal and Paul Whelan, but Moscow rejected the American proposal, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday. The offer involved trading prisoners, people familiar with the matter said, but they didn’t offer further details. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP)
The first month of the Israel-Gaza war is now the deadliest month for journalists since the Committee to Protect Journalists began documenting journalist fatalities in 1992. As of Nov. 27, CPJ’s investigations showed at least 57 journalists and media workers were among more than 16,000 killed since the war began on Oct. 7 — with some 14,800 deaths in the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank and 1,200 in Israel. This deadly toll is coupled with harassment, detentions and other reporting obstructions in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and beyond.
As of Nov. 7, the Israeli-Gaza war has become the deadliest month for journalists covering conflicts since the Committee to Protect Journalists started keeping such records in 1992. At least 37 journalists and media workers have been killed since the conflict began on Oct. 7, according to CPJ.
A Russian court ordered an American journalist to be held in pre-trial detention through at least Monday on charges that she failed to register as a “foreign agent,” according to her employer, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, in a case that threatens to further exacerbate tensions between Washington and Moscow.
CNN anchor Sara Sidner was confronted by an angry pro-Palestinian protestor while reporting Friday from the West Bank. As Sidner and her team were walking through the streets of Ramallah, where demonstrators have erupted in protest over what they say is Israel’s continued oppression and targeting of their people, a man ran up to the news anchor and began shouting at her. “You are genocide supporters,” the man shouted in her face. “You are not welcome here! Genocide supporters!” “F‑‑‑ CNN! F‑‑‑ CNN!” the man continued to scream, pointing his finger in Sidner’s face as a crowd of demonstrators gathered around her.
The Israel-Gaza conflict has taken a severe toll on journalists since Hamas launched its unprecedented attack against Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel declared war on the militant Palestinian group, launching air strikes and ground raids on the blockaded Gaza Strip. The conflict has since widened to neighboring Lebanon. As of Oct. 19, at least 19 journalists were among the more than 4,000 dead on both sides.
When KCCI Des Moines, Iowa, meteorologist Chris Gloninger got an email notification last June, it read: “Getting sick and tired of your liberal conspiracy on the weather.” “What’s your address,” another asked Gloninger a few days later. “We conservative Iowans would like to give you an Iowan welcome you will never forget.” The emails arrived relentlessly in Gloninger’s inbox for another month. Gloninger is leaving KCCI and his career in TV news in July, he announced Wednesday, citing family health issues and post-traumatic stress he suffered after receiving the threats.
After publishing an exposé, journalists in New Hampshire faced broken windows, vulgar graffiti and a legal brawl, with important First Amendment implications.
On the 30th World Press Freedom Day, journalists are set to discuss solutions on how to report in countries where press freedoms are eroding. The number of journalists imprisoned worldwide has reached a 30-year high as of the end of last year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. World Press Freedom day on Wednesday coincides with Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich’s fifth week of detention in Russia.
The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner — known for its fun albeit ferocious jabs at Washington — took a more solemn tone this year as President Joe Biden acknowledged the several American journalists under siege in authoritarian countries around the world. Pictured: President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, Saturday, April 29. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
The detention of the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich poses new obstacles for Western journalists seeking to report on Vladimir Putin’s rule.
A working journalist is in critical condition after he was hit by a pickup truck at the mouth of Utah’s Little Cottonwood Canyon on Thursday.
Local TV, Let’s Really Talk About Guns
The shooting death of News 13 Orlando reporter Dylan Lyons (left) and wounding of photojournalist Jesse Walden last week is but the latest urgent signal that we are deep in the throes of a public health crisis. Local TV has an obligation to seize the moment and address the problem head on.
