Committee to Protect Journalists – Defending Journalists Worldwide.

CPJ: Authorities must allow journalists to safely cover US campus protests

Pro-Palestinian student activists face off with New York Police Department officers at Columbia University during an April 30 police raid on campus. A person with a shirt bearing a “student press” label is in the background. (Photo: AP/Seyma Bayram)

With tensions over pro-Palestinian protests escalating on college campuses across the United States, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on university authorities and law enforcement agencies to allow reporters to freely cover the demonstrations.

“Journalists – including student journalists who have been thrust into a national spotlight to cover stories in their communities — must be allowed to cover campus protests without fearing for their safety,” said CPJ U.S., Canada and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen on Wednesday. “Any efforts by authorities to stop them doing their jobs have far-reaching repercussions on the public’s ability to be informed about current events.”

Since the Israel-Gaza war began on October 7, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker – a CPJ partner – has documented at least 13 arrests or detentions and at least 11 assaults of journalists covering protests related to the conflict.

Those arrested include FOX 7 reporter Carlos Sanchez, who was shoved to the ground on April 24 while covering a protest at the University of Texas at Austin. He is currently facing two misdemeanor charges.

Iraqi Kurdish journalist Guhdar Zebari on threats after imprisonment

Guhdar Zebari was imprisoned for his journalism on anti-state charges. (Photo: Shahnaz Zebari)

On February 17, 2024, Iraqi Kurdish journalist Guhdar Zebari was released from prison, concluding a three-and-a-half year legal saga that saw him convicted on anti-state and other charges in retaliation for his work.

Zebari is one the so-called “Badinan prisoners” – a group of journalists and activists from the ethnic Badinani group who were arrested in the wake of 2020 anti-government protests and tried in court processes that observers called flawed and politically motivated. Two of these journalists, Sherwan Sherwani and Qaraman Shukri, are still in prison. Together, they have become icons of the freedom of expression movement in Iraqi Kurdistan after their imprisonment sparked international outrage.

In an interview with CPJ after his release, Zebari described the charges he faced, his experience in detention, and the state of press freedom in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Journalists Attacked

Hamza Al Dahdouh

MURDERED

Hamza Al Dahdouh, 27, a Palestinian journalist and cameraman for the Qatari-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera, was killed alongside freelance video journalist Mustafa Thuraya in an Israeli drone strike on January 7, 2024.

On the day of the attack, Al Dahdouh and Thuraya joined a group of more than 10 journalists to report on the aftermath of an Israeli strike on a home that occurred on January 6. As they were returning from the assignment for Al-Jazeera, the strike targeted the two journalists’ car in Nasr village, known locally as Moraj, northeast of Rafah in southern Gaza.

Al Dahdouh is the son of Gaza’s Al-Jazeera bureau chief, Wael Al Dahdouh, who had previously lost four other family members in Israeli attacks.

Learn more about Al Dahdouh