Dear Press Freedom Supporter,
When this year started, CPJ was assisting journalists with financial grants, offering safety guidance in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Iran, and Myanmar, and addressing safety concerns for journalists affected by Russia’s war in Ukraine. That is something we were able to do because you supported our work through these sustained and mounting press freedom crises.
Many of the requests we received were for exile support, as it becomes increasingly dangerous for journalists to continue reporting in their home country. In fact, CPJ’s support for journalists in exile has increased by 227% in just three years.
But there are other ways CPJ’s Emergencies team works to keep journalists safe. Safety advisories we issue amid a major weather event or other emergencies can help journalists understand safety best practices while reporting. Online workshops with newsrooms and freelance journalists, as well as one-on-one safety consultations with CPJ’s experts, equip journalists with life-saving information so they can prepare for and respond to incidents they may face on the job. Financial and non-financial support—be it grants for medical or psychosocial support, or basic survival needs following an incident—are all part of the toolkit we use to keep journalists safe. And in the past few years, our financial support for journalists in need of assistance has more than doubled.
This year, in fact, CPJ has provided financial and non-financial assistance to at least 584 journalists from 59 countries, support we could not provide amid these urgent requests without your help.
Now, as the Israel-Gaza war proves to be the deadliest period for journalists since we began tracking journalist killings in 1992—with more journalists killed in three months of this war than in all of last year globally—the urgency of your support has never been more prominent.
Thank you so much for your help.
Lucy Westcott
Emergencies Director
