Dear Friends,

The urgent issues we are facing prompt me to write to you today to launch an exceptional appeal for your generosity. The ongoing threats to the freedom to report the news and those who embody this freedom around the world require action by us all fronts. For this we need your help more than ever!

The persecution of journalists in Iran and Afghanistan, Russian disinformation, the challenges to journalists in the Amazon amid the accelerating climate crisis, the arbitrary detention of many reporters all over the world, the dangers posed by artificial intelligence (AI), and the need to strengthen international partnership in defence of the right to information are all pressing issues to which we must respond with the utmost energy.

The year started with a bang for Reporters Without Borders (RSF) with the “Russian journalist with the sign,” Marina Ovsyannikova, resurfacing in Paris, the publication of a report on the Wagner-linked “Malkevich network”, the release of Olivier Dubois, the French journalist held hostage in Mali, and the international campaign for the release of Mortaza Behboudi, the Franco-Afghan journalist held by the Taliban.

As Europe goes back to work after the summer break, we need to redouble our efforts and your unflagging support is essential to enable us to wage all these battles alongside those who risk their lives every day to provide us with reliable and independently reported news and information.