ALMOST 200 media outlets have joined forces to demand an end to the killing of journalists in Gaza and for the international press to be allowed access to the enclave.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have coordinated an "unprecedented global action” with media outlets from across 50 countries, including The National.
Front pages, homepages and broadcasts will take part in a shared editorial protest following the killing of at least 210 journalists in Gaza.
RSF, global campaigning movement Avaaz, and the International Federation of Journalists have organised the action to run on September 1.
Print newspapers will run blacked-out front pages carrying a stark message: "At the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza by the Israeli army, there will soon be no one left to keep you informed."
Broadcasters and radio stations will pause programming with a joint statement, and online outlets will black out their homepages or banners in solidarity.
Editors, reporters, and other journalists are also taking part.
It comes as the death toll of journalists in Gaza climbs to over 210 since October 7, 2023 – the deadliest conflict for reporters in modern times.
Israel has simultaneously barred foreign media from entering Gaza for nearly two years, leaving Palestinian journalists to report under fire.
“Journalists are being killed, they are being targeted, they are being defamed.
“Without them, who will speak of famine, who will expose war crimes, who will denounce genocides?”
Bruttin added that the solidarity of news outlets and journalists is “essential” to save press freedom.
Andrew Legon, campaign director at Avaaz, said: “It is very clear that Gaza is being turned into a graveyard for journalists for a reason.
Israel’s far-right government is trying to finish the job in the dark, without the scrutiny of the press. If the last witnesses are silenced, the killing won't stop - it will simply go unseen.
"That’s why we´re united with newsrooms around the world today to say: We cannot, we will not, let that happen!”
Anthony Bellanger, general secretary of the IFJ, added: "Every journalist killed in Gaza was someone’s colleague, friend, or family. They risked everything to tell the world the truth, and they paid with their lives. The public's right to know has been deeply damaged as a result of this war.
“We demand justice and a UN International Convention on the safety and independence of journalists."
On August 25, the most recent attacks on journalists in Gaza, Israeli forces bombed the al-Nasser medical complex – a known hub for reporters.
Five journalists were killed, including staff from Reuters and the Associated Press.
Two weeks before, six other journalists were killed in a single strike, among them Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif.
