The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) marks World Press Freedom Day with the launch of its State of the Media Report, laying bare the harsh and deeply entrenched repression faced by journalists in Somalia. The report documents 25 serious violations of media freedom, the majority involving unlawful arrest and detention, used not as law enforcement tools but as instruments of intimidation and punishment. Female journalists continue to suffer in silence, with 21 documented cases of sexual and gender-based violence in 2024 – exposing the gendered nature of media repression and the urgent need for structural reform. The report calls for immediate action to end the culture of impunity, improve journalists’ working conditions and halt all organised efforts aimed at institutionalising censorship. “Journalists in Somalia continue to endure what no professional should ever face – fear, violence and uncertainty, simply for telling the story.