“A free press can of course be good or bad, but a press that is not free can only be bad”.
This pertinent Albert Camus quote captured the key takeaway of former foreign correspondent Peter Greste’s speech at the AIIA’s ‘Global Assault on Journalism’ event on the 17th of March, 2026.
Greste’s message? Journalism, a fundamental pillar of a stable democracy, has become increasingly targeted, attacked and silenced. 2025 marked one of the deadliest years for journalism around the world. According to the Alliance for Journalists Freedom, 129 journalists were killed last year. As of December 2025, more than 300 journalists have remained imprisoned for the fifth year in a row, with the highest numbers held in China, Myanmar, Israel, Russia, and Belarus.
This statistic marks a critical point for the attack on press freedom and reflects the sobering reality for journalism around the world today. For Greste, now a professor and long-time press freedom advocate, the targeting of journalists is a story he knows all too well.
On the 29th of December 2013, Peter Greste became the story. His planned three week stay in Egypt as Al-Jazeera’s journalist covering the political turmoil in Cairo made international headlines when he was abruptly arrested in his hotel room. In 2014, he was found guilty by Egyptian courts of falsifying news and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, which was deemed a terrorist organisation by the newly appointed Egyptian government. Greste was sentenced to seven years in prison. He spent 400 days of those seven years behind bars.
His case sparked international outcry, drawing widespread condemnation from human rights groups and governments around the world.
“It wasn’t about what I had done, but what I represented”, Greste explained to the audience on Tuesday evening. “It wasn’t about the evidence – no one had even opened my laptop to examine it. They didn’t see me as an existential threat, but as a symbol.”
9/11 and the securitisation of journalism
Greste gave a detailed analysis of the shift he experienced as a journalist over the last two decades.
“The more I thought about it, the more I realised that this story started with 9/11,” he said. It was then-U.S. president George W. Bush’s rhetoric of ‘you’re either with us, or the terrorists,’ that bifurcated journalism from that moment onwards. “You had to pick a side, which is antithetical to journalists,” he explained. During his brief work in Egypt, Greste speaking with the opposition had “somehow crossed that line” – the Egyptian government considered his journalistic investigation to be advocacy for terrorist ideology.
Greste described how governments began to “treat journalists as the enemy, rather than as an essential part of a good democracy.” Journalism was deemed a legitimate threat to governments – and therefore a legitimate target.
This securitisation of the media enables journalists to be persecuted and silenced in the name of protecting ‘national security.’ Access to information becomes restricted to channels approved and influenced by those in power. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has found that anti-state charges, such as terrorism, ‘falsifying news,’ and undermining national security, underpin two thirds of journalist arrests and prosecutions around the world. A recent CPJ Special Report outlined that the “lack of accountability makes it easier for authorities to jail journalists under shaky pretexts – and to mistreat them while they are imprisoned.”
Greste also highlighted that it is predominantly local journalists who are targeted by their own government. “My life would have turned out very differently if I was a local journalist in Cairo,” he said.
In the eleven years since his release, Greste’s work has focused on advocating for press freedom, not only around the world, but in Australia. According to Greste, Australia’s national security legislation is some of the most aggressive in the world.
“There is a contest between security and protecting Australia, and the freedom of information,”he explained.
“We have no constitutional protection of press freedom. A free press with safety for sources is fundamental to our democracy. If we don’t have that, we have dark spaces.”
He detailed the recent cases of press freedom being targeted in Australia – from the AFP raids on ABC Brisbane’s offices in 2019 in the wake of the Afghan Files report, to the jailing of whistleblower David McBride who revealed credible evidence of war crimes committed by Australian forces. “When the whistleblower is the only one serving time,” Greste said, “this is a problem for us.”
What is the ‘the grey zone,’ and why do we need it?
“The grey zone – does anyone know who popularised this term?he asked the room, pausing for a moment before delivering a surprising – and shocking answer.
“Islamic State.”
Greste explained that ‘the grey zone,’ a core ideological concept in ISIS propaganda and strategy, refers to an ideological space where non-Muslims and Muslims of all theological interpretations and beliefs can coexist peacefully. ISIS aimed to ‘extinguish’ this zone, forcing people to choose between what they see as belief or unbelief and thereby creating a binary, black-and-white, polarised world. This is an idea that Greste said closely mirrored Bush’s bifurcating rhetoric.
Therefore, by eliminating the ability to express ideas freely and safely, you eradicate this grey zone. Ethical rigorous journalism and the freedom of the press, Greste explained, is not only fundamental to democracy, but to upholding this grey zone.
“We need the grey zone in our society- in fact, it should be called the rainbow zone, for all the colour it brings our society,” he said.
“When we pass legislation that undermines press freedom, we do the job of the extremists for them.”
Journalism in the age of AI and fake news
Digital technological advancements and the rise of artificial intelligence have rendered fake news, information warfare and digitally-altered imagery an escapable part of the media landscape today. As journalism rapidly shifts to meet the needs of digital formats, audiences and platforms, Greste emphasised that the ethical fairness standards of journalism must remain the same.
“Journalism demands independence. What separates journalism from other content is accountability to a code of conduct and ethics,” he explained, “so we need to find a way to distinguish journalism from freedom of speech non-journalism content online.”
The collapse of traditional mass media models have seen journalism organisations cross into biased reporting and experience severe lack of funding.
Greste’s advocacy work as the executive director of the Alliance for Journalists Freedom (AJF) has centred on the development of a Media Freedom Act in Australia. It aims to be a robust legal protection for journalists and news organisations, their data, and their sources.
He said that we must “create a mechanism that recognises the legitimate public interest in press freedom.”
So, what can the Australian public do?
Greste wants the Australian public to understand that this is not just about press freedom – this is about our access to information so we can understand what is happening in the world around us.
When asked about how his advocacy work has changed over time since being released from prison, he described how he first was focused more on the freedom of journalists.
“I’ve since realised that, for all sorts of reasons, people have come to be very skeptical and cynical of journalism.”
“But the thing is, this isn’t about journalists. This is about making sure that we’re providing a flow of good reliable information to help the public make good democratic decisions, to help them engage in healthy public debate.”
“So if that’s the end goal, then if we can help people understand that that’s contingent on allowing journalists to do their jobs, then I think we are in the right space. That’s where we’re starting to focus our work now.”
Greste urged the audience on Tuesday evening to engage in public conversations about press freedom and support journalist organisations doing credible work.
“Pay for subscriptions where you can. Talk about the need for quality reporting.”
“The more we talk, the more we create political pressure.”
To see more of the Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom’s work, and to donate, go to https://www.journalistsfreedom.com/donate.
Written by Rhoen Kennedy
Rhoen Kennedy recently graduated from UQ with a degree in Peace and Conflict Studies / Advanced French. With a strong creative background in photography and writing, she will combine her interests in international politics, women’s rights and conflict dynamics with her passion for storytelling and ethical media, beginning a Masters of Journalism at the University of Melbourne later this year.
Edited by Eliza Hodge.
