Press Freedom

Press freedom can be endangered by an assassin’s bullet, fired to kill an investigative journalist and to intimidate and silence his colleagues.

But it can also be endangered by the knock on the door from the police, arresting a reporter to question her on her sources, or to jail her, with or without a proper trial.

It is threatened by restrictive media laws and defamation law suits which put the power over editorial content into the hands of censors and courts or by violence of all kinds, cyber-bullying and internet shutdowns, by poverty pay, a growing concentration of media ownership and a media environment in which ethical concerns and quality journalism are sacrificed for profit or political advantage.

The IFJ lobbies and speaks out for press freedom at all major international fora – from the United Nations Human Rights Council to the European Parliament, from the Organisation of African Unity to the OSCE and national parliaments and regional bodies.

It provides training, support, campaigning, mobilisations and reports which help build the case for journalists to be able to work free from poverty, corruption and fear.