For the first time, unprecedented global newsroom protest as 200 media outlets take action over killings of journalists in Gaza

In an unprecedented global move, nearly 200 media outlets from 50 countries will black out their front pages, home pages and radio programmes simultaneously to demand an end to the killing of journalists in Gaza and to call for international press access to the territory.

For the first time in modern history, newsrooms on every continent will stage a wide-scale editorial protest. The action — coordinated by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), global campaigning group Avaaz and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) — will take place on Monday, September 1. Print front pages will be blacked out with a powerful message. Broadcast stations will pause programming to air a joint statement. Websites will block their homepages or banners in solidarity. Editors, reporters and other journalists will also participate in the protest.

The move comes as the number of journalists killed in Gaza has risen to more than 210 since October 7, 2023, making it the deadliest conflict for journalists in modern times. Israel has prevented foreign media from entering Gaza for nearly two years, leaving Palestinian journalists to cover events under fire.

Thibaut Broutin, director-general of Reporters Without Borders, said: “At the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces, the world will soon lose anyone able to inform it about what is happening. This is not only a war on Gaza, it is a war on journalism itself. Journalists are being killed, targeted and having their reputations tarnished. Without them, who will report on famine, who will expose war crimes, who will denounce genocide? Ten years after the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2222, we are witnessing, before the eyes of the world, the erosion of international law safeguards for the protection of journalists. Solidarity among the media and journalists worldwide is crucial. They must be thanked: it is journalists’ fellowship that will save press freedom, and fellowship that will save freedom.”

Andrew Ligon, campaigns director at Avaaz, said: “It is very clear that Gaza is being turned into a graveyard for journalists for a reason. Israel’s extreme right-wing government is trying to finish the job in secret, without any oversight from the press. If the last witnesses are silenced, the killing will not stop — it will go unacknowledged. That is why we join newsrooms around the world today to say: ‘We cannot and will not allow this to happen!’

Anthony Bellanger, secretary-general of the International Federation of Journalists, added: “Every journalist killed in Gaza was a colleague, a friend or a family member. They risked everything to bring the truth to the world and paid for it with their lives. The public’s right to know has been gravely damaged by this war. We call for justice and for a UN international convention on the safety and independence of journalists.”

The most recent attacks on journalists in Gaza occurred on August 25, when Israeli forces struck the Al-Nasr Medical Complex, a known hub for journalists, killing five reporters, including staffers from Reuters and The Associated Press. Two weeks earlier, six other journalists were killed in a single strike, among them Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif.