This year’s UNESCO prize shone an uncomfortable light on what unchecked deterioration looks like. UNESCO announced the Sudanese Journalists Syndicate as the laureate of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, in recognition of the role the collective has played in condemning the deliberate targeting of journalists in the ongoing conflict in Sudan.

Since fighting broke out in 2023, the Syndicate has documented 32 journalists’ deaths, 556 violations against media workers, and the cessation of numerous newspapers and radio stations. 90% of the country’s media infrastructure has been destroyed; journalists have been trapped in their homes or workplaces due to street violence and have experienced internet and telecommunications blackouts. These conditions effectively render Sudan a “zone of silence” in which large parts of the population exist in an information vacuum.