In India’s conflict-ridden regions like Bastar and Manipur, local journalists—especially freelancers and women—risk their lives daily to report on corruption, displacement, and state violence, often without institutional support or protection. Their work, largely invisible to national media, exposes a stark reality where telling the truth can cost them everything, even their lives.

From Context Manipulation to AI-Driven Digital Campaigns, Fact-Checkers Strive to Adapt to New Strategies and Methods of Fake and Misleading News Aimed at Constructing “Alternative Narratives.” On International Fact-Checking Day, colleague Hassan Khodary presents the experience of Sanad, Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency, with a particular focus on its work in tracking the falsehoods within the Israeli narrative surrounding the genocide against Palestine.

Western media’s coverage of the Gaza genocide has revealed fundamental cracks in the notion of journalistic objectivity. Mainstream outlets have frequently marginalized or discredited Palestinian perspectives, often echoing narratives that align with Israeli state interests. In stark contrast, Palestinian journalists—reporting from within a besieged landscape—have become frontline truth-tellers. Through raw, emotional storytelling, they are not only documenting atrocities but also redefining journalism as a form of resistance and a reclaiming of ethical purpose.

This paper highlights how Omani media, during times of natural disasters, focused on praising government efforts to improve its image, while neglecting the voices of victims and those affected by the cyclones. It also examines the media’s role in warning against and preventing future disasters.

In this article, we compile testimonies from journalists who have criticised their own media institutions as documented in reports, letters, or interviews. Most spoke anonymously out of fear of repercussions—because freedom of expression appears protected only until it reaches the borders of Israel. At that point, constraints emerge, editorial policies shift, and the system of double standards is activated.

In a move that’s sent shockwaves through India’s independent media landscape, tax authorities have revoked The Reporters’ Collective's non—profit status, claiming journalism doesn’t serve a “public purpose.” Critics warn this unprecedented action, echoed in similar crackdowns on other outlets, is part of a broader campaign to throttle investigative journalism and stifle dissent financially.