The death toll of members of the media killed in the Hamas-Israeli war continues to climb, including a journalist who had reported on killings in previous Israel-Palestine conflicts.

As of November 27, at least 57 journalists and media workers have been killed, on top of the harassment, detentions, disruption of communications and other obstructions to reporting in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and elsewhere.

That is according to the Committee To Protect Journalists (CPJ), which is basing its numbers on both published reports and the testimony of sources in the region.

Of the dead, 50 were Palestinian, four Israeli, and three Lebanese. In addition, 11 journalists have been injured, three are reported missing and 19 have been arrested.

A list of the dead, most of whom were killed in airstrikes, is here. 

Among those killed in airstrikes was press freedom advocate Bilal Jadallah, director of Press House-Palestine and a contributor to CPJ’s work, the group said, notably a report released back in May, Deadly Patterns, about the killing of journalists by Israeli military personnel.

“His killing leaves a gaping hole in the media landscape in Gaza where journalists are in severe peril as they cover the war that has claimed the lives of dozens of their colleagues,” CPJ Middle East and North Africa program coordinator Sherif Mansour said. 

CPJ called for an investigation into Jadalla’s killing. The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate says it believed it to be a targeted killing. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) was reportedly undertaking its own investigation.

Journalists were important players in making sure the country knew what was going on in D.C. on January 6, 2021, when protestors fired up by President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol threatening to hang Vice President Mike Pence or kill House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) pointed out on the second anniversary of the insurrection that journalists paid a price for that role.

According to CPJ’s Press Freedom Initiative, 18 journalists were assaulted, tens of thousands of dollars of news equipment was damaged and 10 people were charged with those assaults and destruction of equipment.

Immediately after the riot, CPJ interviewed journalists who covered the event and one freelancer told the group: “I had three different people threaten to shoot me over the course of the day.”

Others were hit with rubber bullets and had to don gas masks when police tried to disperse the crowd.

CPJ used the anniversary to raise money for its efforts to protect journalists. “Attacks on the press should not go unpunished,” it wrote in an email, “and with your support, CPJ will continue to demand that journalists in the U.S. and around the globe are able to do their jobs safely and without fear of reprisal.” ▪️

French journalist Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff was killed Monday (May 30) while covering the war in Ukraine, according to his employer, French broadcaster BFM TV, and the Committee to Protect Journalists is calling for an investigation. 

The death came the same day that the U.S. celebrates Memorial Day, meant to honor those lost in active service to their country during military conflicts.

Leclerc-Imhoff was covering the evacuation of Sievierodonetsk when one of the evacuation vehicles came under heavy fire, according to CPJ, which cited a statement from BFM TV.

Also: UN Denounces Killing of Journalists In Ukraine

“The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply saddened by the death of Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff and calls on Russian and Ukrainian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances of his death,” CPJ executive director Robert Mahoney said. “His killing is yet another example of the hideous toll taken on non-combatants by Russia’s war on Ukraine. Journalists are civilians who show particular courage by reporting from war zones and should never be targeted for their work."

BFM TV said that Leclerc-Imhoff’s colleague, Maxime Brandstaetter, was injured in the attack.

Audrey Azoulay, director-general of UNESCO, condemned the killing and called for “an investigation so as to identify those responsible for this crime and bring them to trial.”

She repeated UNESCO’s call for the protection of journalists under a UN Security Council resolution. “Journalists who work tirelessly in Ukraine to inform us about the reality of the war must be protected from attack,” she said.

CPJ said at least seven journalists have been killed while covering Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which CPJ defined as where they are reasonably certain they were killed because they were doing their jobs as journalists. Another seven have been killed, but with the motive still unconfirmed, which means they may have been killed in the course of their jobs or for some other reason. Those who were clearly not killed for their journalism or who died in an accident or weather event are not included. ■

The Committee to Protect Journalists is calling on the U.S. government to do more to protect hundreds of Afghan journalists who could be in danger as the Taliban take over control of the country.

CPJ said that includes ensuring safe passage out of the country and the emergency visas that will be needed. 

"CPJ is deeply concerned for the safety of hundreds of local journalists and media workers who could be targeted by the emerging Taliban regime," the group said Monday (Aug. 16).

The U.S. withdrawal of troops has been a vacuum quickly filled by Taliban fighters, with the capital, Kabul, falling in a matter of days as the U.S. tries to get Americans and endangered Afghans to safety.

Also Read: NAB Decries Recent Attacks on Journalists

“The United States has a special responsibility to Afghan journalists who created a thriving and vibrant information space and covered events in their country for international media,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon in a statement. “The Biden administration can and should do all within its power to protect press freedom and stand up for the rights of the vulnerable Afghan reporters, photographers, and media workers.”

CPJ pointed out that Afghan journalists working with the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and New York Times had been unable to get a flight out of the country and have called on the Biden Administration to do more to make sure they get out safely.

CPJ pointed out that it has long called for emergency visas for journalists to avoid the need for "improvised responses."

CPJ said it has vetted 45 "high priority" cases--among nearly 300 journalists seeking to leave--involving clear and imminent threat from the Taliban. "Because of the deteriorating security situation at the airport," CPJ said, "only a handful have been able to board a flight to the U.S. or a third country where their visa requests can begin being processed. The vast majority of threatened journalists remain in hiding."

It said another 127 journalists face significant risks. Then there are the 119 affiliated with U.S. news organizations. That does not count family members, CPJ said, adding that it has gotten almost 500 e-mails in the last 24 hours with requests for assistance.

Committee to Protect Journalists Executive Director Joel Simon is stepping down at the end of the year, he told the board of directors Wednesday (June 9).

He has been with the organization for the past 25 years, the last 15 as executive director.

No successor has been named, but Simon will help with the transition. Board Chair Kathleen Carroll will lead the search committee, which will comprise board members with the aid of search firm Spencer Stuart.

Also Read: CPJ Highlights Journalist Threats in Capitol Siege

"I understand and support Joel’s desire to step down later this year after 15 years at the helm and explore new opportunities," said Carroll. "He is uniquely talented, and it has been a great joy to work with him. I am confident he will have substantial impact in the next chapter of his professional life.” 

In addition to helping win the release of imprisoned journalists, under Simon CPJ has grown to 40 staffers, created a press freedom advocacy program, and launched a campaign against the murder of journalists in retaliation for reporting.

Also Read: CPJ Seeks Trump Meeting Over Ongoing Press Attacks

CPJ's budget has tripled to over $10 million under Simon and has purchased a new New York headquarters with a financial assist from the Knight Foundation and others.

Amy Schumer and other high-profile members of the Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) have signed a petition in support of staffers of the Committee to Protect Journalists who are trying to get WGAE representation.

Schumer, Adam McKay (Vice), Jonathan Franzen (Purity), and over 600 other WGAE members are urging CPJ management to agree to a union contract for approximately 50 CPJ staffers.

The petition, which also includes staffers from Frontline, CBS News, ABC News, NBC News, WABC, WBBM, Huffington Post, and Vox, comes in advance of a Nov. 5 bargaining session. CPJ has recognized the union, but it has been over a year since the first bargaining session with no contract.

Among other things WGAE and CPJ staffers want are health and retirement benefits codified, increased pay minimums, and raises. "After a year of negotiations, it's time for a contract at the Committee to Protect Journalists," the petition said.

COVID-19 has obviously been a contributing factor to the extended bargaining.

On May 27, Dymanh Chhoun of WCCO Minneapolis was tear-gassed while reporting on protests in that city; on May 29, police shot pepper bullets at Kaitlin Rust of WAVE Louisville while she was covering a protest of the shooting death of Breonna Taylor there; and on May 29, Minnesota State Patrol officers arrested CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez and his news crew in Minneapolis live on-air while on the same day, in the same city, freelance photographer Linda Tirado was hit in the eye with a tracer round.

[embed]https://twitter.com/KillerMartinis/status/1266618525600399361[/embed]

And that is only scratching the surface of the 300-plus documented incidents (at press time) that the Freedom of the Press Foundation called “freedom violations” by police and protesters against the journalists covering the nationwide protests, both peaceful and violent.

RELATED: Stories of A Lifetime for TV Reporters

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz apologized for the CNN arrest after it went viral, and said journalists must be given space to tell their stories.

“You see incidents of [police] pushing the press [and protesters] and you say, ‘Where are we, and who are we?’ ” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at one of his daily briefings. He said police must protect public safety and themselves, but that police abuses of power are also a fact. “And people are saying, ‘Enough is enough.’ ”

Journos in the Crosshairs

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said the majority of the incidents appeared to involve police, though protesters have also appeared to target media workers, including Fox News crews chased and assaulted in Baltimore and Washington.

And journalistic organizations were looking for more than apologies.

In a letter to Walz, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press said there had been improvements since that apology, but that even one assault or arrest when the police know it is a journalist is too many.

It called for the release of all arrests and interactions with police so the public could evaluate whether or not the conduct was legitimate.

And in an unusual move, the CPJ’s board sent an open letter to governors, mayors and the heads of law enforcement agencies demanding they stop police assaults on the press.

President Donald Trump has long attacked journalists as dangerous “enemies of the people,” leading to his being branded (while a presidential candidate) by the CPJ as a threat to press freedom “unknown in modern history,” as well as an ongoing threat to journalist safety.

The president was doing nothing to tamp down that inflammatory rhetoric during the protests, tweeting that the media were fake and slanted and corrupt and accusing them of inciting the violence.

[embed]https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1267132763116838913[/embed]

Joel Simon, executive director of CPJ, suggested the problem goes deeper than an incessantly attacking chief executive, though he has likely made a bad situation worse.

In a piece for the Columbia Journalism Review, Simon said the volume and severity of the attacks on journalists during the protests have no precedent in recent memory. But he said that ascribing blame to the president’s anti-media rhetoric was too easy an answer.

“The reality is that aggressive, militarized policing across much of the country, combined with a growing number of protesters who are hostile toward traditional media, has made covering protests an increasingly dangerous assignment,” he said.

Another contributing factor has been a decline in local media and the longstanding relationships between police and familiar beat reporters who had credentials that allowed them to cross police lines, Simon said.

RELATED: A Democracy Can't Afford to Lose Its Storytellers

But the president doesn’t get off the hook.

“While Trump didn’t make covering U.S. protests dangerous, he has made the situation worse,” Simon asserted. “It is certainly possible that the president’s anti-media rhetoric has emboldened local police, who are attacking and arresting journalists at a pace not seen in recent history.” 

Standing Together

The CPJ is getting together with other journalists’ organizations to send letters to police and law-enforcement agencies. They have already issued an open letter calling for police, mayors and governors to “halt the deliberate and devastating targeting of journalists in the field.”

Dorothy Tucker, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, told a Society of Professional Journalists webinar audience that there is “probably not an African-American journalist in the country who has not been the victim of racism” or had an interaction with police or knows someone who has, so they are covering a story that impacts them personally.

So while they are wearing their journalism hat, African Americans can sometimes be the target of law enforcement officers. The NABJ took an informal survey of its members and heard back from 96 journalists. Forty-two percent had been threatened by police, 10% had been arrested and 10% had been physically harmed, she said, adding, “It’s been a rough time.”

Where do journalists go from here?

Among the key takeaways from the webinar: News outlets need to focus more on putting the news in context. Reporters can’t be everywhere, which is becoming the province of “citizen journalists” with cellphones. Instead, they need to add the context and history of racial inequality, which leads to another key: More diverse newsrooms with journalists who view the struggle from a different lens, having lived the struggle and the context.

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A contributing factor to the disconnect between the police and journalists doing their jobs also has to do with the cutbacks in local news, which means the police are not as familiar with the reporters covering the story. And sometimes it is not so much targeting of the press as indifference to whether someone is a reporter or not if the police are moving a skirmish line and the journalist is the impediment.

One factor that has contributed to the prominence of the debate over police treatment of journalists and protesters is that cellphones have been capturing the evidence, as was the case with the killing of George Floyd that prompted the protests.

Former Associated Press journalist Jesse Holland said the time to talk with police is now, before the next protest, and to ramp up training for both police and journalists to try and keep both sides safe.

Tucker agreed that outreach is important. She said news managers should be reaching out to law enforcement all across the country saying, “This is what is happening to our reporters.” Police officials need to talk to their officers and penalize those who violate the rights of journalists, she said.

Tucker also advised broadcasters to be careful with their language. Too frequently, she said, she heard reporters talking about “peaceful protests turning violent,” when the reality was that the peaceful protesters had gone home and the violence was coming from looters. The distinction is important, she said, and not doing so “is insulting to those protesting injustice.” 

LAYING DOWN THE LAW

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press said law enforcement must do these things to help stop protest coverage-related attacks on credentialed journalists:

• “Instruct your officers and staff that the arrest or physical attack of a journalist who is compliant with reasonable police orders is a clearly established First Amendment violation;

• “Take swift action to discipline any officer who is
found to have arrested or assaulted a journalist engaged in newsgathering;

• “Inform your officers that they themselves could be subject to legal liability for violating these rights;

• “Ensure that crowd-control tactics are appropriate and proportional and are designed to prevent collateral harm to journalists covering the protests;

• “Continue to exempt members of the news media from mobility restrictions, including, and especially, curfews.

• “Release all information about arrests of or physical interactions with the press to the public to allow it to evaluate the legitimacy of police conduct.” — JE

As I wove among the thousands of protesters gathered in the streets around the White House over the past few days, I could easily pick out the journalists dotting the crowd. With press credentials hanging from their neck, a notebook in hand or a camera slung over their shoulder, they were there to chronicle the story of historic protests against police brutality sweeping the country.

Dozens of journalists rested on the front porch of the historic St. John’s Church, where just days before the attorney general had ordered peaceful protesters to depart, with chemical agents used to clear them out in advance of the president's photo in front of its boarded-up windows. It was pretty easy to pick out the journalists from the crowd, even with so many people wearing masks to protect themselves from COVID-19. We are currently in the midst of not just a historic civil rights movement, but also in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, so we cannot afford to lose our storytellers.

Over the past two weeks, though, we have seen those charged with upholding the law clash with those practicing their First Amendment rights, from protesters exercising their right to freedom of association and assembly, to journalists embodying the right to freedom of the press. Despite the fact that journalists and citizens alike have a right to document law enforcement and newsworthy events, they have been targeted and attacked by the very people charged with upholding the law: Police were responsible for about 80% of the reported incidents during the first two weeks.

Reporters Singled Out

Since May 26, when protests in response to the death of African-American citizen George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, more than 11,000 people have been arrested. Alongside the protesters, it appears that journalists have been specifically targeted for arrest and attack. By June 8, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, of which the Committee to Protect Journalists is a founding partner, had documented at least 327 press freedom violations. Among these were at least 54 arrests of journalists, the destruction of equipment and physical attacks on journalists with weapons like tear gas and rubber bullets.

For perspective, in 2019 the Tracker documented a total of 152 violations in the U.S. While the number of journalists affected may pale in comparison to the protesters, the implications are serious.

Journalists identifying as people of color are also particularly vulnerable. In the midst of protests about police brutality and systemic racism, among the earliest incidents reported was the on-air arrest of black Latino reporter Omar Jimenez, along with members of his CNN team. His white colleague, working one block over, was not detained. Journalists of color are forced to exist in a space of double jeopardy, targeted not only for their race, but now for their job as well. Journalism in the U.S. is still wildly uneven in representation, with the American Society of News Editors’ 2019 Diversity Survey revealing that only 21.9% of salaried newsroom staff are people of color. I won’t claim to speak for the experiences of these journalists, but our past reporting has shown that protests present additional threats for black journalists. We need their perspective; we cannot afford to lose their voices now.

The U.S. has long been a champion of press freedom, holding the First Amendment up as a model, a standard set for protecting and encouraging a robust free press. The Constitution protects both the right of civilians to protest, as well as journalists’ right to cover it. But as authorities across the country continue to disparage and allow for attacks on the press, that standing is now in jeopardy. And the
failure of U.S. leadership to protect even its own journalists will have direct consequences for journalists in danger around the globe.

Journalism Is Essential

Journalists are an essential service, and that’s a status explicitly confirmed by leaders around the U.S. and the world during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have a critical role to play in these historic moments. To bear witness and to bring information not only to their communities, but the world. And even in the face of mounting hostility, they have not backed down nor turned the camera away.

The world is watching. It’s imperative for state and city authorities across the country to show the same courage and conviction. Police departments must allow journalists to work and cover this story as safely as possible, and failure to do so must be thoroughly investigated and those responsible held to account. If they don’t, we run the risk of losing the thread on a vitally important story. Communities — and democracy — will suffer as a result. 

Courtney C. Radsch, Ph.D., is advocacy director at the Committee to Protect Journalists and author of Cyberactivism and Citizen Journalism in Egypt: Digital Dissidence and Political Change.  

The Committee to Protect Journalists Monday (June 1) pointed to as many as 90 separate incidents of journalists assaulted, pepper-sprayed, shot with rubber bullets and arrested and said the scale of such "abuses" is "unprecedented in recent American history."

CPJ said it is investigating all of those incidents, which stem from coverage of the protests of the death of George Floyd in police custody. It argues that covering protests has been made more dangerous by "the adoption of aggressive, military-style policing, and the mounting hostility of protesters towards journalists," both of which have been going on for some time.

"CPJ is working with our press freedom partners to engage police departments, mayors, and other local officials across the country to improve practices, ensure accountability, and launch investigations into police misconduct when necessary," the group said.

In the face of those attacks, many on Local TV and radio journalists, the National Association of Broadcasters reiterated its support for those news crews as they cover the ongoing protests over racial inequality and called for greater protection.

“NAB has enormous respect for law enforcement and for the rights of Americans to protest peacefully to make their voices heard. However, I am gravely concerned about recent violence against journalists who are legally covering protests across the nation in the wake of the unconscionable death of George Floyd," said NAB President Gordon Smith.

"We implore both police and protesters to respect the difficult job of journalists and recognize their essential role in democracy. Dedicated broadcast journalists are putting themselves in harm’s way to cover the news and to shine a light on civic unrest. These reporters must be afforded appropriate First Amendment protections as they cover the news, hold officials accountable and shine a spotlight on the challenges facing our society.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists has collected some resources for journalists now on the front lines of increasingly violent and confrontational protests across the country, sparked by the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody. 

It expressed its thanks, first, for all journalists are going through, "the dangers you are facing, the sleepless nights and stress you are undergoing as you work to document these historic events." 

It also cautioned journalists not to push the envelope. "No story is worth being injured or worse, so please do not take unnecessary risks as you are covering these volatile stories," it said. 

CPJ also cited some incidents, including the arrest of a CNN crew in Minneapolis, police firing pepper bullets at a local TV news crew in Louisville, Kentucky, and protesters attacking a Fox news crew in Washington D.C. 

Among the resources CPJ pointed to was its own standing tips for covering civil disorder, as well as the Society of Professional Journalists' ethical hotline and the National Press Photographers Association's help for dealing with the stress of critical incidents.

Reuters is reporting that two of its journalists jailed in Myanmar have been pardoned after more than 500 days behind bars of a seven-year sentence. 

The reporters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were released as part of a general presidential amnesty. 

At the time of their arrest and then conviction for breaking the Official Secrets Act--Reuters said they had done nothing wrong--the pair were working on a story about the killing of Muslim men and boys by security forces and Buddhist civilians. 

"May their release herald a new era of press freedom in Myanmar, where reporters no longer fear reprisal merely for doing their jobs," said Committee to Protect Journalists Southeast Asia Representative Shawn Crispin.  

Sen. Marco Rubio (D-Fla.), among those who had advocated for their release, was understandably pleased.  

“On the heels of World Press Freedom Day [May 3], I am very happy to see Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo finally walk free out of a Burmese prison," he said. "Both journalists were unjustly jailed for their work reporting the truth about the atrocities against the Rohingya in Burma. Their cases serve as a reminder of the critical role a free press plays in bringing accountability and transparency to governments, and we must do all we can to protect and advance those principles.” 

The Committee to Protect journalists is calling on Attorney General nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) to commit to support guidelines that make it harder for the Justice Department to subpoena journalists' records.

At the hearing, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), whose father was a journalist, said she was particularly sensitive to the journalist's role as a watchdog and asked him to commit to guidelines Attorney General Eric Holder issued in 2015, which include releasing an annual report on any subpoenas and promising not to put journalists in jail for doing their jobs.

Sessions did not commit, saying he needed to study the guidelines.

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Klobuchar said that while there were "a few examples of where the press and the Department of Justice haven't agreed," she believes DOJ "does have sensitivity to this issue" and that "for the most part there is a broadly recognized and proper deference to the news media."

But she added a caveat, saying, "You could have a situation in which the media is not really the unbiased media we see today and they could be a mechanism through which unlawful intelligence is obtained."

RELATED: Committe to Protect Journalists Brands Trump Threat to Press Freedom

Klobuchar said she would follow up with Sessions in written questions, but the CPJ was not waiting around.

"We urge Senator Jeff Sessions, if confirmed as attorney general, to follow the revised guidelines set out by Attorney General Eric Holder," said Carlos Lauría, CPJ's senior program coordinator for the Americas, in a statement. "The U.S. government should be expanding protections for journalists to gather the news and maintain confidential sources. They must not roll these protections back."