For World Radio Day, RSF has highlighted the dangers facing radio broadcasters worldwide by drawing attention to a number of symbolic attacks carried out against them in recent years.
Philippines: 90 radio journalists killed in 40 years, including Erwin Segovia last July
The Philippines remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world for radio journalists, even though these broadcasters are an irreplaceable source of information for a population dispersed across the archipelago, including in isolated areas. Out of the 148 journalists killed while carrying out their work since 1986, 90 of them worked in radio, revealing a pattern of systematic violence against professionals in this sector across the country. Among the most recent victims is Erwin “Boy Pana” Segovia, an anchor on Radio WOW FM and station manager of the Radyo Gugma station, who was shot dead on 21 July 2025 by unidentified assailants. While the motive for the murder has not yet been confirmed, Erwin Segovia had just finished his programme and was on his way home when two individuals on a motorbike followed him and shot him in the head in the city of Bislig, on the east coast of the island of Mindanao. He was known for his forthright commentary on political and social issues in his programme “Diritsahan!”
Community radio stations targeted in the DRC
Based at the heart of conflict zones, often in rural or remote areas of North Kivu, South Kivu and the eastern province of Ituri – where the state’s presence is limited and numerous armed groups operate – community radio stations have become direct targets in the fighting, caught between the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and the coalition of armed rebels Congo River Alliance (AFC)/March 23 Movement (M23). Between January 2024 and January 2025, more than 25 community radio stations were looted or forced to close, and RSF recorded over 50 attacks on newsrooms and journalists. Two radio journalists were killed in 2024 in circumstances that remain unclear: the body of community radio presenter Yoshua Kambere Machozi of Radio Mpety was found in November after he had been abducted by M23 rebels, and Edmond Bahati Monja, coordinator of the Catholic radio station Radio Maria, was shot dead in Goma, a city in the east of the country, on 27 September as he was returning home.
The Sahel’s community radio stations also face the front line
From Mali to Chad, the deterioration of the security situation in the Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa is severely affecting journalists and presenters of community radio stations, who face abductions by armed groups, attacks and the destruction of their premises. In Mali, on 7 November 2023, Abdoul Aziz Djibrilla, a 28-year-old journalist for the community radio station Naata in the village of Labbezanga near the Mali–Niger border, was killed when the vehicle taking him to Gao — a city in eastern Mali — for a journalism training workshop was attacked. Two other journalists, Saleck Ag Jiddou, the director of Radio Coton Ansongo also known as Zeidane, and presenter Moustapha Koné, were abducted during the attack and are still missing. The RSF documentary Community Radios: The Fight to Keep the Sahel Informed highlights the crucial role of these outlets and the growing threats they face.
Afghanistan: radio stations censored and women’s voices banned
In Afghanistan’s Khost province, in the east of the country, local radio stations have been targeted by repression based on “morality” rules imposed by the Taliban. Three stations were temporarily banned from broadcasting in 2024, and their return to the air was made conditional on restrictive rules: no more music and no more calls from female listeners. In Helmand province in the south of the country, women’s voices are entirely banned from the radio, both as presenters and callers. The iconic Afghan women’s station Radio Begum was suspended on 4 February 2025 by the Taliban Ministry of Information and Culture, before being allowed to resume broadcasting 18 days later. The station had been accused of “multiple violations,” including providing content to a television channel based abroad. After serving six-month prison sentences, two of its journalists were released in July 2025.
The United States: national and international public radio targeted by the Trump administration
Since the start of his second term as President of the United States, Donald Trump has been waging a relentless war against journalism, and public service radio stations have not been spared. In May 2025, he signed an executive order ending funding by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) for the two main US public broadcasters – the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR). In January 2026, the CPB – which supported a network of 1,216 local public radio stations, many of which were vital news sources in rural regions – announced its closure following these budget cuts. Although most local NPR and PBS stations remain operational for now thanks to donations and grants, the threat of widespread closures looms. As for international public broadcasters, the Trump administration has repeatedly sought to dismantle the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees public funding for US international broadcasters, including Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Radio Free Asia (RFA). These broadcasters represent a rare source of reliable information in places where journalism is criminalised, such as Belarus, North Korea, Russia and China. The disappearance of many of these stations has seriously weakened access to trustworthy news for thousands of people, especially in areas where this information can be lifesaving.
Financial and logistical obstacles for radio stations in the Brazilian Amazon
Producing news from and about the Brazilian Amazon – a territory spanning nine states and that suffers from limited access and connectivity – is a daily challenge: lack of public support, limited infrastructure and vast distances that make field reporting costly. Nevertheless, 49 radio stations operate in 38 municipalities, according to the local digital media organisation InfoAmazonia. These stations cover issues such as deforestation, climate change, land conflicts and the rights of indigenous people and traditional communities. However, reporting on these topics can expose journalists to political and financial pressure – notably from groups linked to agribusiness and local interests – threatening both editorial independence and the safety of media professionals investigating sensitive issues, particularly environmental ones.
Europe: threats to public radio
While the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) requires EU Member States to guarantee the independence, pluralism and economic viability of media outlets, European public service radio stations continue to face persistent threats. Their funding is regularly called into question, their role weakened by competition from online platforms and their editorial independence often undermined by political interference. In Lithuania, the ruling majority is pressing on with its proposed special law that would expose the public broadcaster LRT to political pressure, after freezing its funding. Czech public service media outlets — including the first radio service to broadcast on the European continent in 1923 — risk the abolition of their licence fee, which guarantees their independence. The license fee in Switzerland, a non-EU country, is also at risk of being drastically reduced by a popular initiative on 8 March. In Liechtenstein as well, the closure of Radio Liechtenstein in April 2025 is an extreme example of just how fragile European public radio has become.
Ukraine: keeping occupied territories informed via radio despite attacks
From bombing broadcast towers to occupying radio stations, the Kremlin has systematically targeted Ukrainian media infrastructure. Since 2022, RSF has recorded no less than 25 Russian attacks on broadcast towers. Despite this, local Ukrainian radio stations continue their work just a few dozen kilometres from the front line. In the eastern Donbass region, the northeastern city of Kharkiv and the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, these stations sometimes manage to broadcast into territories occupied by Russia, even as Russian forces jam their signals, block their stations and seize their equipment.
[Read: “Behind the scenes of a newsroom. From the front line to occupied territories, Ukrainian radio stations broadcast independent information, whatever the cost.”]
Sudan: radio frequencies under fire
In a country torn apart by nearly three years of war, Sudan’s radio stations are the first news medium the warring parties are determined to silence. According to several corroborating sources, only two of the 22 local radio stations that were active before the conflict are still broadcasting today — and both of them are controlled by the warring parties. Some Sudanese stations continue their work or have been founded in exile — such as Radio Dabanga — defying censorship and attempts to block satellite transmissions, while correspondents on the ground risk arbitrary arrest and physical violence to deliver the vital news on which millions of Sudanese people depend, trapped by the conflict.