Mexico: Ricardo Zúñiga Rosas, eighth journalist murdered this year, publicly reported threats linked to his work

Bad news! President Sheinbaum needs to do more!

"... According to press reports such as El Universal or La Jornada, two men on a motorbike arrived at Productos Zuma, Zúñiga’s cleaning-products store, where the media worker was present, entered the premises and shot him, who was taken to Tehuitzingo Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. ..."

Mexico: Ricardo Zúñiga Rosas, eighth journalist murdered this year, publicly reported threats linked to his work | RSF "Ricardo Zúñiga Rosas, a 35-year-old photographer and local journalist, was killed on 29 August in the municipality of Tehuitzingo, in the state of Puebla, after publicly reporting threats linked to his reporting. He is the second journalist to be murdered in Puebla in less than two months. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the murder, calls for a thorough investigation and urges President Claudia Sheinbaum and the federal authorities to activate the nationwide emergency response to violence against journalists demanded by RSF on 26 August."

Ricardo Zúñiga Rosas

At least 27 Ukrainian media professionals have been imprisoned by Putin the Terrible since the Russo-Ukrainian War began in 2022

Bad news!

"As of today, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has identified at least 27 Ukrainian media professionals imprisoned by Russia.

Among them are six media professionals from Melitopol, a city occupied by Russia in southeastern Ukraine, who have been languishing in Russian prisons for three years under arbitrary detention, unjust convictions and ill-treatment, often thousands of miles away from their families.

Their situations are different, but each case is a stark illustration of Russia’s brutal repression of Ukrainian journalists and media workers.

Some have been sentenced to decades behind bars. Oleksandr Malyshev was sentenced to 26 years in prison, the longest sentence ever handed down to a media professional since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Yana Suvorova, just 21 years old, was sentenced to 14 years in prison. She is being held in a prison known for its mistreatment of Ukrainian detainees.

For others, their fate remains uncertain. Heorhiy Levtchenko is serving a 16-year sentence, upheld in June 2026, but his current place of detention remains unknown. Anastasia Hlukhovska, meanwhile, has been held incommunicado for three years without ever being prosecuted or sentenced.

..."

Up to 26 years in prison for reporting from Ukraine

2026 RSF Index: global press freedom at a 25-year low

Bad news! Concerning! Progress is sometimes slow and sometimes it reverses!

It appears, the Trump Derangement Syndrome has also affected the RSF. Very regrettable!

"For the first time in the history of the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index, over half of the world’s countries now fall into the “difficult” or “very serious” categories for press freedom.

In 25 years, the average score of all 180 countries and territories surveyed in the Index has never been so low.

Since 2001, the expansion of increasingly restrictive legal arsenals — particularly those linked to national security policies — has been steadily eroding the right to information, even in democratic countries. The Index’s legal indicator has declined the most over the past year, a clear sign that journalism is increasingly criminalised worldwide. In the Americas, the situation has evolved significantly, with the United States dropping seven places [???] and several Latin American countries sliding deeper into a spiral of violence and repression. ...

Five key takeaways from the 2026 RSF World Press Freedom Index:

1. The average score for all countries and territories worldwide has never been so low. For the first time in the Index’s 25-year history, more than half the world’s countries now fall into the “difficult” or “very serious” categories for press freedom.
2. Out of the five indicators used to assess press freedom worldwide — which determine the economic, legal, security, political and social environments for journalism — the legal indicator has seen the sharpest decline this year.
3. The United States [???] has fallen seven places and other countries in the Americas, such as Ecuador and Peru, have plummeted in the ranking.
4. Norway holds the top spot for the tenth consecutive year, while Eritrea comes in last for the third year in a row. 
5. Post-Assad Syria has seen the biggest improvement in press freedom of all the countries and territories in the 2026 Index, climbing 36 places in the ranking. 

...

US President Donald Trump has turned his repeated attacks on the press and journalists into a systematic policy, pushing the US down to 64th place (-7). ..."

2026 RSF Index: press freedom at a 25-year low | RSF

Today, China, Russia, Myanmar, and Belarus still count for the world’s largest prison populations of journalists.

Just a reminder at the end of 2025 or the end of the first quarter of the 21st century!

"710 journalists spent time in prison this year, and more than 500 will be spending the end-of-year holidays there too, according to our latest figures."

Over 500 journalists will spend the holidays behind bars (Reporters Without Borders (RSF))

RSF exfiltrates Ekaterina Barabash: the Russian journalist’s escape from Putin the Terrible

Good news! As if the Soviet Union never disappeared! Greetings from the Gulag!

"On 5 May, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) held a press conference at its headquarters to present Ekaterina Barabash to the press.

The Russian journalist and film critic disappeared from Moscow, where she was under house arrest, on 21 April and is now in Paris.

Exhausted but free, Ekaterina Barabash recounted her escape from the Russian authorities, who put her on their wanted list as she faced up to ten years in prison. RSF coordinated the operation and ensured her safe passage to France. ..."

RSF exfiltrates Ekaterina Barabash: the Russian journalist’s escape from Moscow to Paris | RSF

Ekaterina Barabash

Gaza Strip war propaganda by the Reporters without Borders

How many complaints with the ICC did the RSF (Reporters sans frontières) ever file against the Hamas or other Islamist terrorism groups?

RSF claims over 100 journalists were killed in the Gaza Strip by Israel. Very doubtful!

The RSF claims: "Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announced today (27 May), that it is filing its third complaint with the International Criminal Court about Israeli war crimes against Palestinian journalists in Gaza, in order to ask the prosecutor to investigate the crimes committed against palestinian journalists in Gaza among which nine reporters killed between 15 December 2023 and 20 May 2024.
The number of journalists killed by the israeli army in Gaza since 7 October 2023 has passed the 100 mark and continues to grow. These journalists have been killed or injured. ..."

Following photo used by RSF is most likely phony! It compares to the worst kind of war demagoguery!

War crimes in Gaza : RSF files a new complaint 

Under Mexican President AMLO Mexico has continued to be the country with the highest murder rate of journalists

Bad news! Some jobs are more dangerous than others depending on country.

"... In the almost six years that he has been president, at least 37 journalists have been murdered and five have disappeared. ...
Aside from the appalling death toll, no reform of the system for protecting journalists has been implemented despite the recommendations in this area from organisations such as Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Worse still, the president has continued to express hostility towards the work of the media on many occasions, in stark contrast to his promises. ..."

Mexico : no progress on protecting journalists in the last 6 years

AMLO

Reporters without Borders: 2020 round-up: Worldwide, a total of 387 journalists are currently detained in connection with their work

Just a grim reminder!

"... The number of journalists in prison at the end of 2020 is just two less than at the end of 2019, when it was 389. This means that the number of journalists held worldwide is still at a historically high level. More than half (61%) are held in just five countries. For the second year running, China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Syria are the world’s five biggest jailers of journalists. ..."

RSF’s 2020 round-up: 35% rise in number of women journalists held arbitrarily | RSF