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The Freedom Desk

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@washingtonpost's press freedom initiative. Empowering the news voices of tomorrow. #WriteOn

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I spent 544 days in an Iranian prison because I did my job as a journalist. For me, press freedom stopped being something I believed in and became something I lived. It's the reason I got to come home — and the reason some of my colleagues never have.

In a newsroom, a "desk" isn't just where you sit. The foreign desk, the investigations desk — it's shorthand for a mission, for the people who show up for it every day. That's where the name comes from.

The Freedom Desk is for everyone who refuses to look away — journalists, sources, readers, anyone who still believes people have a right to know what's actually happening. Ksenia, who can't go home. Jamal, who didn't come home. And the next reporter who sits down to write something true, knowing what it might cost.

We're putting 150 years of Washington Post experience behind training those who'll carry this forward — especially in the places where governments are working hardest to make sure the truth doesn't get out.

250 years into this country, the First Amendment isn't something we inherited. It's something we keep earning.

Watch this. Then tell me who you'd put at the desk.

#FreedomDesk #PressFreedom #America250 #JournalismMatters by @thefreedomdesk

In a newsroom, a "desk" isn't just where you sit. The foreign desk, the investigations desk — it's shorthand for a mission, for the people who show up for it every day. That's where the name comes from.

The Freedom Desk is for everyone who refuses to look away — journalists, sources, readers, anyone who still believes people have a right to know what's actually happening.

#FreedomDesk #PressFreedom #WriteOn #JournalismMatters #WithoutFearOrFavor by @thefreedomdesk

The number of deaths of reporters is rising and, increasingly, murders of journalist are going unpunished, according to the UN cultural organization UNESCO. Dangers in the field highlighted by UNESCO include rising threats by drones and online harassment, particularly of women journalists, that can lead to physical attacks.

UNESCO’s report coincided with International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, a day that commemorates and demands justice for the journalists who have been killed, attacked, threatened, imprisoned or disappeared. by @thefreedomdesk

Day of the Dead is on November 1st and 2nd. But did you know that the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists also falls on November 2nd?
This mural in Mexico City commemorates the murdered and disappeared journalists of México. In the past 20 years, 169 journalists have been murdered, an average of 8 per year. by @thefreedomdesk

Swipe to read this week’s top press freedom headlines: White House faces new lawsuit over media bans; populist strongman ousted in Serbia as journalists hope for a less hostile media climate; Egypt orders the closure of an independent media outlet and fines its editor-in-chief; Israeli forces detain journalists and disrupt coverage during Hebron raid; Nicaraguan journalist Luis Galeano receives asylum after ICE detention.

Read more by subscribing to our newsletter or visiting our website — link in bio.

#freedomdesk #pressfreedom by @thefreedomdesk

Dan Balz, The Post’s former chief correspondent, discusses the midterm races he is watching closely on this week’s episode of Freedom Desk with host Jason Rezaian.

Watch the full interview at the link in bio. by @thefreedomdesk

Could Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth face impeachment following the midterms?

Dan Balz, The Post’s former chief correspondent, and Freedom Desk (@thefreedomdesk) host Jason Rezaian (@rezaian) discuss what could change if Democrats take back the House and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) wins the speaker’s gavel.

Watch the full interview by tapping the link in @postpolitics’s bio. by @thefreedomdesk

Dan Balz, The Post’s former chief correspondent, expects that President Donald Trump may cry foul if the 2026 midterms don’t go Republicans’ way on Nov. 3.

Dan and Freedom Desk (@thefreedomdesk) host Jason Rezaian (@rezaian) break down President Trump’s historically low polling numbers, the issues driving voter turnout and the balance of power if Democrats retake control of Congress.

Watch the full interview by tapping the link in @postpolitics’s bio. by @thefreedomdesk

Swipe to read this week’s top press freedom headlines: Heidi Levine says a brutal beating ‘strengthened’ her resolve to cover violence in the West Bank; Russia arrests a Japanese journalist on espionage accusations; journalists covering protests in France face continued attacks; concerns grow over the safety of Serbian journalists as elections approach; and Cuban journalist Henry Constantín is placed in a disciplinary cell amid ongoing concerns over the treatment of journalists in Havana.

Read more by subscribing to our newsletter or visiting our website — link in bio.

#FreedomDesk #PressFreedom #JournalismMatters by @thefreedomdesk

Dan Balz, The Post’s former chief political correspondent, has been covering politics since 1978.

He and Freedom Desk podcast host Jason Rezaian (@rezaian) discussed the brutal attack on The Post’s photographer Heidi Levine by Israeli settlers last week and what it means for global press freedom.

For more, listen to The Freedom Desk (@thefreedomdesk) on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. by @thefreedomdesk

Rana discusses how a lack of press freedom can shape elections — and the Modi government’s influence on India’s media landscape. by @thefreedomdesk

Last week, Indian journalists faced unprecedented police crackdown with at least 30 journalists detained. Earlier this year, I spoke with Rana Ayyub about press freedom crisis in India — the situation got even worse.

Watch Freedom Desk episodes to learn more about press freedom around the world — link in bio. by @thefreedomdesk