News / 12.07.2024

Reporters Without Borders and UJF: safeguard journalists and reporting in Gaza

This is what a group of about 100 journalists and media workers looks like. More than a hundred have already been killed in the war in Gaza. About a hundred members of the Finnish chapter of Reporters Without Borders and the Union of Journalists of Finland gathered in Kansalaistori (People's Square) on 19 June for a photo shoot to symbolise the number of their colleagues killed in the Gaza war. The photo shoot is part of an international campaign to be launched in the autumn to highlight the crucial role of journalism in exposing the suffering in Gaza. Photo: Markus Pentikäinen

The war in Gaza has brought untold suffering and destruction to civilians over the past nine months.

Gaza has become a media black hole. The true extent of the humanitarian catastrophe and human suffering cannot be understood without active reporting by journalists. It is therefore essential to ensure that journalists can work as freely and safely as possible, despite the war.

This is also required by international law. The United Nations Security Council approved a resolution on protecting journalists in times of war. Resolution 2222, adopted nine years ago, stresses the need to investigate and bring to justice the killings of journalists.

Violence against and the killing of journalists is an attack on the public's right to information. The situation in Gaza is completely intolerable. The number of journalists killed continues to rise. More than a hundred journalists have already been killed during the conflict.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Journalists' Union call on the warring parties to do their utmost to safeguard prompt reporting from Gaza. Without daily journalistic reporting, none of us can fully understand what is happening in the midst of the war. We need an up-to-date assessment of what is happening in the war - not just once the fighting and violence have stopped.

Reporters Without Borders - Finland
Union of Journalists in Finland


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