To protect the planet, we need to protect journalism: UNESCO World Trends Report
At the 2026 Society of Environmental Journalists Conference (15-18 April, Chicago), the UNESCO report featured prominently during the plenary session, Protecting Environmental Journalists, Protecting the Planet: Safety, Support and Resilience.
Introduced by Kunda Dixit, author of the chapter on press freedom and environmental journalism, the session presented the alarming trends in attacks against journalists covering environmental issues to more than 400 environmental journalists gathered.
Since 2010, at least 46 environmental journalists have been killed, yet perpetrators have been convicted in only six of those cases. The report also notes that even greater numbers of environmental defenders and activists have lost their lives.
The discussion also focused on the growing mental health challenges faced by environmental reporters and the need for newsrooms to provide better support for journalists working under increasingly difficult conditions. Participants examined strategies to protect reporters from online abuse, coordinated trolling campaigns and strategic lawsuits intended to silence critical reporting.
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