International Journalism Week 2025

International Journalism Week (IJW) 2025, organised by the School of Information, Journalism and Communication at the University of Sheffield, takes place from 3 November to 6 November 2025. The theme for this year’s IJW is Journalism in the age of drone warfare and democratic decline.

Drone warfare (the use of drones for battles) and democratic decline are two present day realities that pose significant challenges to journalism. The challenges posed by drone warfare include lack of direct access to the news and high levels of security risks for journalists. Lack of direct access to the news makes it difficult to verify information emanating from conflict areas. There is no gain saying that limited access to news in crisis areas hampers investigative journalism. The difficulty in verifying information combined with lack of transparency from the warring parties makes the media vulnerable to the transmission of propaganda including misinformation and disinformation. Security risks for journalists have increased due to the use of autonomous systems such as drones for wars. Many are killed, injured or traumatised by drone attacks. While there is scarcity of empirical data that shows the specific number of journalists killed by drone attacks, reports show that several journalists have been killed in wars that involve such autonomous systems. It is also important to note the number of journalists who have lost their lives on the line of duty. This is not to discourage future or practicing journalists, but to stress the need for steps to be taken to protect journalists and other civilians in times of war. 

According to the UNESCO Observatory of Killed Journalists, 1825 Journalists were killed since 1993. Over 50 percent of that number died in conflict zones. More than 50 journalists have been killed every year since 2009. According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF 2025), over 210 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack, and since 2022, about 150 journalists have been attacked by Russia while covering the war in Ukraine. While not all died from drone attacks, reports show that many journalists have died or sustained injury from drone attacks in the last decade. Thousands of civilians have also lost their lives or sustained life changing injuries from drone attacks. Some analysts (see for example, Drone Wars UK, N.D.) argue that drone warfare has shifted high of casualties of war from soldiers to civilians including journalists. That is because using drones for war help to preserve the lives of soldiers while escalating casualties of civilians during such conflicts. It can be argued that the use of drones for combat has resulted in increased disregard for the 1949 Geneva Convention which states that non-combatants including journalists, medical practitioners, aid workers and other civilians should be protected during wars. It can be argued that disregard for the 1949 Geneva Convention is a sign democratic decline. One common argument from warring parties is that civilians were not intended targets. That does not remove the risks involved; what it highlights is that there are low guarantees for the safety of journalists, aid workers, medical practitioners and other civilians in wars that involve the use of autonomous systems. 

It is worthy of note that democratic decline (also, democratic backsliding) goes beyond drone warfare. It encompasses diverse forms of disregard for democratic values and institutions by powers who claim to be democratic. This ranges from clamping down on freedom of expression to weakening the institutions, laws and practices that underpin democracy. Several countries in Europe, the Americas and Africa are said to be experiencing democratic decline (see for example, Bernhard 2021). This poses grave danger to humanity because democracy protects human rights. It is widely accepted that journalism plays a crucial role in the sustenance of democracy (see Ogbebor 2020, pp.53-54). Journalists need access to the news to be able to be able to fulfil their function of ensuring an informed citizenry, in this case, on war affairs which can literarily be described as a matter of life and death.  Journalists need to stay alive and well to do this. They also need democratic values such as freedom of expression to be able to call power to account. That is why the theme of this year’s International Journalism Week (IJW2025) is, “Journalism in the age of drone warfare and democratic decline”. 

This year’s International Journalism Week (IJW2025) which takes place on 3-6 November 2025, will feature engaging and captivating talks, workshops, hostile environment coverage exhibition, and panel discussions by speakers from different parts of the world, including Asia, Africa, America, and Europe. The speakers include veteran journalists and experts from related fields who will share their wealth of knowledge and experience on the coverage of drone warfare, journalism safety in general, fact-checking, and democratic backsliding amongst others. One of the highlights of the IJW2025 event is the Students’ Competitions. These competitions are open to BA Level 1 and MA Global Journalism students at the University of Sheffield. The students will compete for awards in feature writing, debate, quiz, and the production of captivating and original short videos that would expound on the theme of IJW2025. The competitors will receive training and support for their competitions from University’s Creative Media Team and other experts in their chosen category.