Global Journalist Security

05/28/2026

https://cpj.org/2024/07/guide-to-legal-rights-in-the-u-s-2/?fbclid=IwRlRTSASFrzhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEe2_oNgQ-HV25Wb5ihekjMND-c_HQe7AeAtI0LToiQRjsiit52v3QJocSUfHM_aem_hW95BmODr6aHBYZl5R6MBg -Amendment-rights-of-journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists is responding to the needs of journalists in the United States as they face a range of challenges, from confrontations with law enforcement at demonstrations to raids on newspaper offices, and learn to navigate what has become an increasingly hostile enviro...

05/15/2026

GJS announces a Back Watchers service. The first of its kind by U.S.-based provider in the United States, GJS Back Watchers come with experience and training in tactical environments and emergency medicine. Designed to protect our clients, they are insured by Lloyds of London.

Https://gjs-security.com

https://mailchi.mp/gjs-security.com/preparing-for-2026-with-new-and-updated-courses-10145902?e=cae7629ac0

05/12/2026

"MEXICO CITY (AP) — Between 800 and 1,000 families have been forced to flee their homes in the mountains of central Mexico as a criminal mafia has attacked them with handmade explosives launched from drones and powerful weapons, community and human rights groups said Sunday.

The wave of violence in the conflict-torn state of Guerrero started on Wednesday when a powerful group known as Los Ardillos began to fiercely attack the communities in a rural mountainous region.

Thousands of people – including children and the elderly – were forced to flee in just a span of days after what they say were years of mounting attacks. At least one person was injured, said an organization representing the community, People’s Indigenous Council of Guerrero – Emiliano Zapata (CIPOG-EZ)."

"Community groups and local religious organizations said Los Ardillos have sought to take over the land for years in their battle for territory with a smattering of other rival criminal groups."

Community and human rights groups say between 800 and 1,000 families have been forced to flee their homes in the mountains of central Mexico as a criminal mafia attacks them with handmade explosive launched from drones and powerful weapons.

05/04/2026

GJS' Frank Smyth on World Press Freedom Day with Al Jazeera, about how the world is facing the worst conditions for that we have seen since WW II. Please click on the link below to see the interview. https://mediaview.aljazeera.com/video/aB2SHCYmUr?fbclid=IwY2xjawRk7tVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFKYXlpVHZ0cE40c1NPYzNEc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHvpXcijRkztIoaZh-t4bPLVYQ4hpjtNOlJQE8tJIPXur9mVwjoijFYfdyooc_aem_FIoASgz3OBiltGRTLIMtkA

05/03/2026

On the eve of World Press Freedom Day, the Committee to Protect Journalists based in New York posted this:

"Israel is engaging in the deadliest and most deliberate effort to kill and silence journalists that CPJ has ever documented. Palestinian journalists are being threatened, directly targeted, and murdered by Israeli forces, and are arbitrarily detained and tortured in retaliation for their work. Israel has systematically destroyed media infrastructure in Gaza, and tightened censorship throughout the West Bank and Israel. Inside Gaza, journalists report harassment and intimidation by Hamas."

Israel is engaging in the deadliest and most deliberate effort to kill and silence journalists that CPJ has ever documented. Palestinian journalists are being threatened, directly targeted, and murdered by Israeli forces, and are arbitrarily detained and tortured in retaliation for their work. Israe...

05/03/2026

Global press freedom has fallen to its lowest level in 25 years, according to Reporters Without Borders. Last year, UNESCO said the decline was comparable to that seen during the most unstable periods of the twentieth century — the two world wars and the Cold War. Over the past three years, journalists have increasingly become direct targets in conflict zones rather than simply witnesses to events, and nowhere has that been more evident than in Gaza. It is also a reminder that freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, as set out in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. President of the Palestianian journalists syndicate, Nasser Abu Bakr, shares further insights.

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05/03/2026

04/26/2026

"I remember screaming, though I don’t know what words I screamed. And I remember resisting, though there was little I could do in heels against two military-trained men intent on shoving me into the back seat of their vehicle.

"Video surveillance captured the moment I was taken. In it, you can see two burly men walk past, watching nonchalantly as I struggle. Inside the vehicle, the men zip-tied my wrists and ankles, and blindfolded me. I kept asking them: Why?

"I had been working in Iraq as a journalist for more than a decade. I had documented Iraq’s fight against the Islamic State from the front lines as a freelancer—at my own expense and at great risk. I had covered social, political, economic, and environmental issues, and had been welcomed into the homes of many Iraqi families whose stories I tried to tell with sensitivity and fairness. Why, I asked these men in Arabic, had they taken me? Why were they hurting me? What purpose did this serve?"

A kidnapping in Iraq

04/23/2026

RIP 42-year-old journalist Amal Khalil of Al-Akhbar newspaper.

She and freelance photojournalist Zeinab F***j had been reporting on an earlier airstrike that targeted a car in front of them, killing two civilians, when they took refuge in a house. Israeli forces then carried out a second strike that directly targeted the journalists, trapping them inside.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1CfmZDs32V/?mibextid=wwXIfr

It has been sadly confirmed that 42-year-old journalist Amal Khalil of Al-Akhbar newspaper has been killed today, Wednesday, the sixth day of the ceasefire, in an Israeli airstrike on the town of Tiri in southern Lebanon.

She and freelance photojournalist Zeinab F***j had been reporting on an earlier airstrike that targeted a car in front of them, killing two civilians, when they took refuge in a house. Israeli forces then carried out a second strike that directly targeted the journalists, trapping them inside.

When Red Cross teams arrived to rescue them, the Israeli army threw a stun gr***de at the ambulance before opening fire, blocking the rescue. After three hours of delays, with Israeli forces citing the need for “permission through the mechanism”, a second Red Cross team, accompanied by the Lebanese army, finally reached the three-story building and searched through the rubble. It was too late. Zeinab was evacuated to Tebnine Governmental Hospital where she underwent head surgery. The bodies of the two men from the initially targeted car were also recovered.

04/17/2026

"Sarah Finke, a mental health clinician with the Department of Mental Health Service at the IU School of Medicine, helped prepare medical students for the intense sensory experience. She’s been involved with several simulations through GJS Security, which provides hostile environment and first aid training for journalists and other civilians going into high-risk environments.

"Finke showed the medical students how breathing and grounding practices can help them think more clearly in a stressful situation. One student actor played the role of an uninjured bystander who continually got in the way, demanding the doctors do more to help a friend who was having difficulty breathing. Finke suggested the medical team could give those kinds of bystanders a “job” like keeping their friend talking or applying pressure to a wound. “It gives them a place to focus their nervous energy,” she explained.""

Mitch Krathwohl organized an immersive learning opportunity for first-year medical students in his FCP1 course. It was a collaborative effort involving Indianapolis EMS, Eskenazi Health, campus safety, The Media School, IU's theatre department and the Music Technology program at IU Indianapolis.