Global Journalist Security

04/26/2026

"I remember screaming, though I don’t know what words I screamed. And I remember resisting, though there was little I could do in heels against two military-trained men intent on shoving me into the back seat of their vehicle.

"Video surveillance captured the moment I was taken. In it, you can see two burly men walk past, watching nonchalantly as I struggle. Inside the vehicle, the men zip-tied my wrists and ankles, and blindfolded me. I kept asking them: Why?

"I had been working in Iraq as a journalist for more than a decade. I had documented Iraq’s fight against the Islamic State from the front lines as a freelancer—at my own expense and at great risk. I had covered social, political, economic, and environmental issues, and had been welcomed into the homes of many Iraqi families whose stories I tried to tell with sensitivity and fairness. Why, I asked these men in Arabic, had they taken me? Why were they hurting me? What purpose did this serve?"

A kidnapping in Iraq

04/23/2026

RIP 42-year-old journalist Amal Khalil of Al-Akhbar newspaper.

She and freelance photojournalist Zeinab F***j had been reporting on an earlier airstrike that targeted a car in front of them, killing two civilians, when they took refuge in a house. Israeli forces then carried out a second strike that directly targeted the journalists, trapping them inside.

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It has been sadly confirmed that 42-year-old journalist Amal Khalil of Al-Akhbar newspaper has been killed today, Wednesday, the sixth day of the ceasefire, in an Israeli airstrike on the town of Tiri in southern Lebanon.

She and freelance photojournalist Zeinab F***j had been reporting on an earlier airstrike that targeted a car in front of them, killing two civilians, when they took refuge in a house. Israeli forces then carried out a second strike that directly targeted the journalists, trapping them inside.

When Red Cross teams arrived to rescue them, the Israeli army threw a stun gr***de at the ambulance before opening fire, blocking the rescue. After three hours of delays, with Israeli forces citing the need for “permission through the mechanism”, a second Red Cross team, accompanied by the Lebanese army, finally reached the three-story building and searched through the rubble. It was too late. Zeinab was evacuated to Tebnine Governmental Hospital where she underwent head surgery. The bodies of the two men from the initially targeted car were also recovered.

04/17/2026

"Sarah Finke, a mental health clinician with the Department of Mental Health Service at the IU School of Medicine, helped prepare medical students for the intense sensory experience. She’s been involved with several simulations through GJS Security, which provides hostile environment and first aid training for journalists and other civilians going into high-risk environments.

"Finke showed the medical students how breathing and grounding practices can help them think more clearly in a stressful situation. One student actor played the role of an uninjured bystander who continually got in the way, demanding the doctors do more to help a friend who was having difficulty breathing. Finke suggested the medical team could give those kinds of bystanders a “job” like keeping their friend talking or applying pressure to a wound. “It gives them a place to focus their nervous energy,” she explained.""

Mitch Krathwohl organized an immersive learning opportunity for first-year medical students in his FCP1 course. It was a collaborative effort involving Indianapolis EMS, Eskenazi Health, campus safety, The Media School, IU's theatre department and the Music Technology program at IU Indianapolis.

04/17/2026

RSF Launches fund for protective gear for journalists in the United States.
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Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has launched the Providing Reporters with Emergency Safety Supplies (PRESS) Fund, a new grant program to help journalists obtain personal protective equipment (PPE) amid a spike in threats to those reporting on the ground over the past year. The PPE program’s initia...

04/12/2026

“Yet she was considered fortunate to still be alive. After she recovered, she returned to the conflict in Sarajevo, joking that she needed to find her missing teeth.

“And for another 15 years at CNN, she continued to cover the cruelty that humans inflicted on one another in hostilities across the globe, including the Chechen war, the U.S. war in Afghanistan, the second Palestinian intifada and the civil war in Sierra Leone.”

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04/07/2026

"American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped from a Baghdad streetcorner last week, has been released, two Iraqi officials with direct knowledge of the situation said on Tuesday.

"The development came after the powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah said in a statement earlier in the day that it had decided to free Kittleson, who was abducted on March 31. Its condition was that that Kittleson must “leave the country immediately” upon her release."

American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped in Baghdad last week, has been released. That's according to two Iraqi officials with direct knowledge of the situation.

04/03/2026

In a statement, Washington, D.C., based CAIR said:

“We strongly condemn the kidnapping of journalist Shelly Kittleson and call for her immediate and unconditional release. Journalists play a vital role in documenting events and informing the global public, often at great personal risk. Targeting members of the media is a violation of fundamental human rights and undermines transparency and accountability. We urge those responsible to immediately release Ms. Kittleson without harm.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called for the immediate and safe release of freelance Wisconsin journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was reportedly kidnapped by a militia group in Iraq. CAIR expressed deep co

04/03/2026

Shelly Kittleson took a GJS HEFAT course in 2014, and she took a different HEFAT course more recently.

“One of the things that is always done in HEFAT training is that you practice as a journalist ... in case you would be kidnapped," Nazish said. "She went through that and I know from some people who were with her in the training as well that it was hard for her to process that. And so in that particular part, she was a little stressed out."

As the search continued in Iraq for abducted American journalist Shelly Kittleson, a colleague described her as resilient and careful to avoid danger.

03/31/2026

Shelly Kittleson, an American citizen and a GJS alumnus, has been kidnapped in Baghdad. A journalist with longtime experience in the Middle East, Shelly was working for both Italian and U.S. news outlets.

Local authorities are searching for Shelly Kittleson, who was abducted in Baghdad.

03/31/2026

Jeremy Diamond and his CNN crew have been doing frontline reporting from the West Bank, where they were attacked by Israeli soldiers. In a rare move, the soldiers and their commanders resonsible have been sanction. Diamond transparently points out that Israeli authorities have only acted in this case because the crew is American, and that both Palestinian journalists and other civilians continue to be attacked by Israeli soldiers and settlers with impunity. This is what good frontline journalism looks like.

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03/30/2026

Reporters without Borders in Paris has put out an excellent guide, the best GJS has seen to date, for frontline journalists about drones and how to stay safe in a drone warfare environment. This link below provides links the RSF Drone Guidebook in English, Ukrainian and Russian, and to videos in English and Ukranian.

Drones — unmanned aerial vehicles (or UAVs) piloted in real time by the Kremlin’s armed forces — have become one of the main threats facing journalists covering Russia’s war in Ukraine, making some areas along the front line almost inaccessible. In partnership with the Kherson-based foundati...

12/31/2025

From our colleagues at the International Women's Media Foundation. Seven women journliasts were killed around the world in 2025.
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