On 27 May, when the global media fraternity gathers in Copenhagen for the World News Media Congress, WAN-IFRA will award the 2024 Golden Pen of Freedom.  This award is made each year to a person or group who has sacrificed much in the cause of press freedom. As we prepare to honour the 2024 Laureate, we reflect on winners past; the ideal moment to see what has happened to some of those who have received the award in its 63-year history. On trial in Hong Kong Jimmy Lai, the founder of former independent newspaper Apple Daily, is 60 days into a trial in Hong Hong that may see him jailed for ..read more

As independent media globally face unprecedented threats, the ACOS Alliance and WAN-IFRA have joined forces to launch the Editor Safety Hub, a free-to-access training platform for news editors and managers. The Editor Safety Hub launches with The Fundamentals of Safe Commissioning, a self-paced training course that equips editors with the skills they need to safely commission journalistic work, support the safety of freelancers they work with, and embed a culture of safety within their everyday practice. The course’s content has been created with Aegis Safety Alliance and in consultation ..read more

Agence France-Presse (AFP)’s Global News Director Phil Chetwynd hit the headlines this month, not only when he took the bold step of being one of the first news agencies to issue a kill notice against the manipulated image of the Princess of Wales with her children, but also in explaining why – and declaring that the Palace was no longer a trusted source. The ensuing media furore over the Kensington Palace pictures somewhat overshadowed his more critical interventions about the plight of journalists in Gaza, and the imperative for international support.   With three big global news e ..read more

Journalists working in the MENA region face some of the biggest challenges to the profession anywhere in the world. The area has seen great upheaval in recent years, with revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, and conflicts that have engulfed the region, like the current war in Gaza. But journalists remain dedicated to promoting the truth, working both pragmatically and creatively to ensure that their stories reach the rest of the world. In this episode of The Backstory, we dip into the immense challenges facing the media industry in the Middle East and North Africa. Guests: Malek Khadhraoui, dire ..read more

Andrea Miranda is the Group Editorial Director of Debate Media, a Mexican news organisation she co-founded 20 years ago. She oversees a portfolio of 32 digital brands, six printed newspaper editions and many magazines and commercial supplements. A vocal defender of freedom of expression and protection of journalists, her road to journalism was unusual: Miranda studied photography and industrial engineering: “It was photography that brought me to a newsroom in 2004,” she said. She shared with the World Editors Forum what it is like to lead a newsroom of 180 journalists in such a violent region ..read more

By WAN-IFRA Women in News Team The round table discussions took place in Amman, Jordan, against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, and underscored the urgent need to address the challenges faced by journalists – particularly women – as the pursuit of truth takes them to the frontlines of danger to bring critical stories to light.  War reporting plays a crucial role in shaping public understanding and policy responses to conflict. Leaders from more than 100 news organisations had in the past week signed an open letter, initiated by CPJ and supported by WAN-IFRA, in support of Palestinian jou ..read more

Andrea Miranda es la Directora Editorial del Grupo Debate, una organización de noticias mexicana que cofundó hace 20 años. Supervisa una cartera de 32 marcas digitales, seis ediciones impresas de periódicos y numerosas revistas y suplementos comerciales. Defensora a ultranza de la libertad de expresión y la protección de los periodistas, su camino hacia el periodismo fue inusual, Miranda estudió fotografía e ingeniería industrial: “Fue la fotografía lo que me llevó a una redacción en 2004”, dijo. Compartió con el World Editors Forum cómo es dirigir una redacción de 180 periodistas en una regi ..read more

Lesia Lazorenko, CEO and chief editor of Prywatna Gazeta in Kremenchuk, Poltava region in Central Ukraine, oversees two titles: Kremenchutskyi Telehraf – which was, until last week, both print and digital – and ‘Simejna Hazeta’ (Family Newspaper), a print-only publication.  Kremenchutskyi Telehraf, a free publication, published its last print title earlier this month, and is now again only digital.   On the eve of the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, she talked to me about the challenges of surviving, and sustaining momentum over the past two years. What are t ..read more

On February 24, 2022 Russian forces initiated a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine that continues today. It’s a war Ukrainian media were expecting, but not fully prepared for, and  many journalists and news titles were sacrificed.  “Before February 24, 2022, most Ukrainian newsrooms faced the same challenges as most media all over the world: we were thinking about monetisation strategies and discussing paywalls for digital media, fighting for young audience for our news sites and planning the future for our print newspapers,” recalls Oksana Brovko, chief executive officer at AIR ..read more

Widely regarded as the ‘Dean of Sudanese Journalism’,  Mahjoub Mohamed Saleh co-founded and became editor-in-chief of Sudan’s oldest independent newspaper, Al-Ayyam, in 1953.  A progressive daily, it was also the first paper produced using modern printing technology. Saleh also published the English-language newspaper Sudan Times, in partnership with South Sudanese writer and politician Bona Malwal. In 2005, WAN-IFRA awarded Saleh with the Golden Pen of Freedom, recognising it as a “Lifetime Achievement award” given his “long, illustrious career”. “Given the conditions under which he ..read more