The right to information and the fight against propaganda are at the core of RSF's strategy and agenda for the third quarter of 2024

This new season is, of course, marked by The war in Gaza: to date, over 130 journalists have been killed, at least 40 of whom were slain while working. Dozens of newsrooms have been destroyed, and access to the Palestinian enclave is still forbidden to foreign journalists. RSF is working on all fronts to support journalists affected by the war and mobilise the international community.

RSF also remains focused on fighting disinformation, and plans to bolster projects such as the Svoboda satellite, an RSF-led initiative. The satellite package, aimed at a wide Russian-speaking audience deprived of free and reliable media, is accessible to 4.5 million households in the Russian Federation, and to around 800,000 households in the occupied territories of Ukraine. Ukraine and Northern Macedonia joined the International Partnership for Information and Democracy, an RSF-led initiative, as part of the urgent fight to defend quality journalism. RSF also directly battled the threats to producing and disseminating reliable information posed by artificial intelligence (AI) by initiating the Paris Charter on AI and Journalism alongside 16 international partner organisations.

Other major challenges for the coming months include the protection of environmental journalism – RSF already highlighted its importance in the report “The Scorched Lands of Journalism in the Amazon” – and ongoing problems in the Sahel region, which has been destabilised by armed attacks that count journalists among their targets. RSF called on Senegalese authorities to face their responsibilities in the Sahel conflict in the report “Senegalese journalism at a crossroads” (Le journalisme sénégalais à la croisée des chemins).

The fight to free arbitrarily detained journalists around the world is a core mission for RSF. In 2024, RSF’s relentless efforts contributed to the historic release of Julian Assange in the United Kingdom, as well as the release of Stanis Bujakera, who spent over six months in detention in Kinshasa. Investigations carried out by RSF's investigations desk revealed the false nature of the charges against Bujakera.

Major projects for 2024-2025

RSF's international teams, composed of 14 desks and sections and over 150 correspondents around the world, will be hard at work this fall. In the coming months, RSF will continue existing operations and launch new projects in its various fields of intervention:

• Press freedom:
  • A tribute will be paid to the journalists killed in Gaza during the Bayeux War Correspondents' Awards in France this October, and RSF will continue to mobilise internationally on this front. A fourth complaint will be lodged with the International Criminal Court concerning these crimes.
  • A support programme for Burmese journalists will be launched.
  • The Centre for Press Freedom, which opened in Beirut in March 2024, will continue its activities, maintaining the closest proximity possible to journalists in the region affected by the war in Gaza.
  • The annual report on crimes against journalists around the world will be published in December.
    
     
• The news market:
  • RSF’s upcoming report, “From Resilience to Recovery: Securing the Future of Ukrainian Media,” is dedicated to Ukraine’s media market, and calls for the creation of a fund to support Ukrainian outlets impacted by the large-scale Russian invasion.
  • RSF will continue to advocate for its recommendations for the right to information to be incorporated into European Union legislation and the legislation of individual nations.
  • A report on RSF’s Spinoza Project will examine the development of one of the first AI tools designed both for journalists and with journalists. The tool – an RSF initiative made possible with the French organisation Alliance de la Presse d'Information Générale – was developed with the help of 12 media groups counting over 100 outlets. It allows users to access over five databases, which include at least 30,000 items of reliable, sourced journalistic content on the topic of climate change.     
    
     
• The information space:
  • At the end of September, RSF will launch the Propaganda Monitor, an online platform that consolidates RSF's publications on propaganda and disinformation and compliments them with academic expertise. The project aims to shed light on the many forms and tactics of propaganda used around the world to raise awareness about underlying factors and help the public navigate the information space. The Propaganda Monitor’s first season will be devoted to Russian propaganda tactics.
  • RSF will continue to organise meetings with government representatives as part of the International Partnership for Information and Democracy, currently endorsed by 54 countries.

Multiple major RSF events will take place at the end of the year, such as:

• The 30th anniversary celebrations of two RSF sections: the German section on 10 October and the Swedish section on 27 October.
• A meeting between the correspondents for RSF's Asia-Pacific desk: based in Taipei, the regional team will bring together its network of local correspondents to discuss press freedom issues in their zone.
• The 32nd edition of the RSF Press Freedom Prize: the ceremony will be held on 3 December in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the journalists and media outlets around the world whose work has significantly contributed to defending and promoting press freedom. In addition to the existing categories – courage, impact, independence and the Lucas Dolega-SAIF award for photojournalism – two new categories will be revealed at the event.

RSF has offices in 14 cities around the world, and representatives or correspondents in 144 countries.