Stop killing journalists: Australian media figures take a stand as death toll continues to rise

Australian journalists have united in support of their colleagues in Gaza, releasing a landmark video paying tribute to the 179 Palestinian media workers so far killed by the Israeli military in the conflict.

More than 100 members of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) who work as journalists for a wide range of outlets appear in the video, reading the names of each journalist who has been killed.

The video has been produced and endorsed by MEAA and is being circulated across social media channels.

It features some of the nation’s most high-profile media figures with music by Connor D’Netto, performed by Jayson Gillham.

D’Netto’s score, Witness, is dedicated to the journalists of Gaza.

“MEAA and its members have a proud history of denouncing attacks on journalists around the world,” said MEAA Media Federal President Michael Slezak.

“Since October 2023, 271 journalists and media workers have been killed across the globe, with around 180 of those being Palestinian media workers reporting on the horrors being inflicted on the civilians of Gaza, making it the most dangerous place on Earth to be a journalist.”

“As was made abundantly clear this week in the wake of the killing of five Al Jazeera staff, journalists have been deliberately targeted by the Israeli military.

“With international media continuing to be locked out of Gaza, we are relying on our Palestinian colleagues to be the world’s eyes and ears, bringing news about this conflict to international audiences, while facing the very real threat of death.

“We remember each of our slain Palestinian colleagues.

“We also demand the Israeli Government: stop killing journalists.”

MEAA chief executive Erin Madeley said the video sought to pay tribute to, and express solidarity with, Palestinian journalists, while also highlighting the devastating impacts on press freedom.

“Newsrooms around the world, including here in Australia, are scrambling to provide news out of Gaza, relying entirely on Palestinian journalists for footage and first-hand accounts from the ground,” Ms Madeley said.

“In addition to their rising death toll, Palestinian journalists continue to work in Gaza under increasingly untenable conditions, exposing them to sickness, starvation, and bombardment.

“Preventing these journalists from doing their jobs safely is a blatant attack on press freedom everywhere: it is stopping the flow of crucial information out of a conflict zone and restricting the public’s right to know.

“Press freedom is a core part of the union’s business and MEAA members have a proud history of campaigning – and winning – on this issue.”

Since October 2023, MEAA has spoken out condemning the death of journalists from Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, and elsewhere in the region.

Last year, MEAA members held a vigil to memorialise slain colleagues and have raised around $30,000 for the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate to provide essential food, hygiene, and telecommunications equipment to journalists in Gaza.

The renewed call to stop the killing and allow international journalists into Gaza aligns with the work of media unions around the world, including the International Federation of Journalists and its affiliates.

Media Contact: Rebecca Urban 0411 790 304