As journalists everywhere celebrated the 33rd annual World Press Freedom Day on May 2nd, journalists and media professionals reflected on the ongoing challenges to press freedom. World Press Freedom Day is a reminder that governments need to respect their commitments to press freedom. Now more than ever, journalists around the world are forced to defend themselves from threats towards press independence.
“Press freedom refers to the right of journalists and press organizations to operate independently without censorship or interference from government authorities or other entities,” states the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in relation to the creation of World Press Freedom Day 33 years ago. UNESCO aims to protect journalists worldwide through monitoring deaths, condemning attacks, and pushing for legal action against culprits.
When the United States withdrew from UNESCO at the start of Trump’s first presidency in 2017, concerns among advocates of press freedom rose, as it signaled a step back from international cooperation on protecting journalists and promoting free expression.
During his presidency from 2017 to 2021, and now to his second term beginning in 2025, president Donald Trump has continued to criticize major news organizations, oftentimes labeling them as “fake news” and calling the general media the “enemy of the people.”
His presidency has drawn criticism from press freedom organizations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters without Borders. These groups argued that these claims from the president undermine the general public’s trust in journalism as a whole and even encourage hostility towards reporters.
In the past fifteen months, Trump’s administration has taken concrete action to repress journalists domestically. The administration has punished media that criticized the president’s actions, sued outlets he disfavored, and even censored public government data. These measures are not just creating an increasingly repressive government but it is also affecting journalists economically.
Just a few months into Trump’s presidency, his administration froze foreign aid provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in an attempt to dismantle the independent federal organization. The organization is a humanitarian aid that implements programs worldwide to support health, crisis management, economic growth, and foreign policies. According to Reporters Without Borders, USAID programs have supported independent media in more than 30 countries and many journalistic organizations around the world that received this American aid funding are now being abolished.
While these domestic challenges are impactful to American journalists, international journalists are now facing a new spectrum of dangers globally as conflict zones grow. Across the globe, press freedom has been an ongoing problem, especially in territories currently at war. The Committee to Protect Journalists reported a record number of journalists killed in 2025, 2/3s of which were committed by Israel. This statistic is a year-on-year record from 2024. In Gaza, Israeli soldiers have demolished newsrooms and killed nearly more than 200 journalists, the majority of these journalists being Palestinians. The number of Ukrainian and South African journalists killed has risen as well.
The North African and Middle Eastern areas are currently some of the most dangerous areas in the world for journalists, with authoritarian institutions ruling the majority of those countries such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar.
A big reason why freedom of the press has been in jeopardy globally is the lack of economic opportunities in the industry. Journalism as a profession does not pay a whole lot and news outlets’ aids are being defunded leading to less people being inclined to report the full, unbiased truth. These two reasons being why newspapers in ~⅓ of the world have shut down in the last two years according to Reporters Without Borders.
To prevent the public from being left uninformed on government abuses, protests, cruelty, injustices and more, the relentless targeting of journalists has to stop. Without economic independence, news media are financially stressed and at risk of reporting in poor quality.
Whether in the U.S. or abroad, the fight to defend press freedom will continue even if surrounded by violence, threats or economic downturns. As we reflect on this year’s World Press Freedom Day, we understand that there is still a long way to go for protecting journalists and reporters worldwide.
