More than 100 of the world’s most experienced war correspondents, journalists, and photojournalists, including Christiane Amanpour, Lindsey Hilsum, Anderson Cooper, Clarissa Ward, Alex Crawford, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Mehdi Hassan, and iconic war photographer Don McCullin, have signed a new global demand for immediate and unsupervised foreign press access to the Gaza Strip.
But this is only the beginning. The petition is part of a growing international movement, an open and ongoing invitation to all journalists, media workers, and defenders of press freedom to take a stand. https://freedomtoreport.org/
In a demonstration of defining professional unity and with the support of key organizations like the Association of European Journalists, Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, the initiative Freedom to Report was started by award-winning war photographer André Liohn, recipient of the Robert Capa Gold Medal. It was inspired by the legacy of fallen colleagues who gave their lives in pursuit of truth, including Marie Colvin, James Foley, Chris Hondros, Tim Hetherington and others. “This is not a call to be heard,” says Liohn. “We demand that independent, professional journalists be allowed into Gaza. What’s happening today is not only a humanitarian blackout, but also an information blackout, and it must end”.
The urgency is unprecedented: more than 60,000 people have been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of them civilians. Multiple international attempts to broker a ceasefire have failed. And still, foreign journalists remain completely barred from entering Gaza due to Israeli-imposed restrictions. The stated reason is “security”, yet humanitarian workers, doctors, and religious leaders have been permitted access under the same conditions and risks. So the question must be asked plainly: why doesn’t Israel want foreign journalists to report what is happening in Gaza?
Since the beginning of the war, nearly 200 journalists, most of them Palestinian, have been killed. The petition states this constitutes the worst press blackout in modern conflict, setting a perilous global precedent.
“When governments can unilaterally shut down access to war zones,” the petition warns, “they undermine the very foundation of democracy: press freedom as a check on power.”
While honoring the extraordinary courage of Palestinian journalists reporting under siege, the petition insists that international access is critical to provide a full, independent account of the war, and to support those risking everything to report from within.
The signatories are united by a common message: this is not activism, it is journalism. The right to report, especially in war, is not optional. It is an essential democratic safeguard. Its erosion in Gaza signals a broader global crisis in press freedom.
The petition calls for:
• Immediate authorization from Israeli and Hamas authorities to allow independent foreign journalists access to Gaza.
• Respect for journalists’ protected status under international law, including the Geneva Conventions.
• Support from media organizations, civil society, and governments worldwide to defend the principle that truth must never be dictated by those who wield weapons or control borders.
About the Initiative:
"Freedom to Report is a coordinated effort by frontline journalists across continents, grounded in decades of war reporting experience. It was initiated by André Liohn and is supported by leading names from The Times, Channel 4, CNN, BBC, NRK, Sky News, The Guardian, El Mundo, CBS, ABC, Rede Globo, and many more.
This is a defining moment. What happens in Gaza will shape the future of press freedom everywhere.
The world has a right to know.
Journalism must not be silenced."
