#press-freedom

#press-freedom

The Federal Communications Commission chair, Brendan Carr, admitted at a Senate hearing on Wednesday that there had been a political sea change and he no longer viewed the FCC as an independent agency. Commissioners, he says, serve at the pleasure of the president. In his case, that president is Donald Trump, whose face Carr wears as a lapel pin, whose agenda he loudly embraces, and who often publicly demands that Carr censor his critics, including revoking their broadcast licenses.

If 2025 was the year the world woke up to democratic backsliding, 2026 may be the year journalism decides whether it will face that crisis alone or survive it together. Around the globe, authoritarians have learned to use the law to criminalize dissent through courts that perform an apparent due process while they dismantle it. The new authoritarian playbook includes a captured judiciary, economic suffocation of independent outlets, media capture and the slow erasure of collective memory.

Referring to the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), the Commission said Hungary "fails to comply with requirements relating to the public service media," adding that it, "does not comply with provisions regarding interference in the work of journalists and media outlets in Hungary, restricting their economic activities and editorial freedom." A statement on the Commission's website said, "Hungarian law does not offer an adequate protection of journalistic sources and confidential communications, nor effective judicial protection when these rights are breached."

The first year of the second Trump administration has already seen new heights in unlawful efforts to cut off access to information (and to punish newsrooms for doing their job). From unconstitutionally booting the Associated Press from the Oval Office because of its editorial stance, to creating unlawful press access policies at the Pentagon, the administration is desperately seeking to choke coverage it doesn't like. The currents shaping these efforts are only likely to intensify in 2026.

President Donald Trump attacks the press on pretty much a daily basis, lashing out at reporters who ask questions he doesn't like. He told one reporter to be quiet while calling her "piggy." He has called other reporters "nasty," "stupid," "ugly," "obnoxious" and terrible at their jobs. Often, he focuses on women. But no one is seemingly spared from his wrath when he gets a tough question.

The club notified the Guardian late on Saturday to say it felt it would be inappropriate for journalists and photographers from the Guardian to be accredited to matches at the Amex, starting from Sunday's game against West Ham. The allegations about Bloom, a billionaire who has made his money from gambling, have raised questions from MPs. Dawn Alford, the chief executive of the Society of Editors, said the ban was deeply concerning.

Good Evening. I'd like to begin by saying thank you to the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents for this incredible honor. I'd also like to recognize the Murdoch family, and the Fox executive team for making our coverage possible. Including Suzanne Scott, Jay Wallace, Greg Headen, Tom Lowell and of course Lauren Petterson, Irena Briganti, Kim Rosenberg and Thomas Ferraro who are here tonight. And finally, to my father. You believed in me when everyone else told me this wasn't possible.

Yulia Kuznetsova said in a social media post that it appeared Novak was being transferred from Penal Colony No. 11 in the village of Bozoy in the Irkutsk region, though her destination was unknown. "This week, a lawyer colleague of mine tried to visit Nika, but was denied entry," Kuznetsova wrote. "He noticed a loud noise and a large number of Investigative Committee officers in the colony. The prison staff are not explaining what exactly happened."

Acosta, during an appearance on MS NOW on Saturday morning, made it clear he was still disgusted with the president saying quiet, piggy to Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey earlier this month. He said any boss who spoke to a female employee that way would be fired, so it was not okay for the press to just sit back and take it. Other folks in the press in the room should speak up in that moment and say, Mr. President, that is not appropriate,' Acosta said.

When Elena Kostyuchenko (Yaroslavl, Russia, 38 years old) arrived in Berlin after covering the beginning of the war in Ukraine and learning that she could never return to Russia because a price had been put on her head, she thought she was safe. However, a few months later, she was poisoned in Germany with an unknown substance that continues to wreak havoc on her body even today.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

The Kashmir Times rejected that allegation, describing the raid on its office as yet another attempt to silence us. The bizarre allegations against us are baseless, the news outlet said in a statement shared on its website on Thursday. Criticising the government is not the same as being inimical to the state. In fact, it is the very opposite, it said. A robust, questioning press is essential to a healthy democracy.

U.K. journalist Sami Hamdi, a 35-year-old father of three and outspoken critic of Israel's genocide in Gaza, was residing in the U.S. on a travel visa when he was abducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at San Francisco International Airport on October 26. His wife, Soumaya Hamdi, only found out he was being detained after a friend sent her a text message about DHS bragging about the abduction on social media.