Globally, 1 in every 6 people had access to a free press last year, according to a report released this week by Freedom House, an independent watchdog organization.

In fact, the percentage of people living in a country with an independent media fell to its lowest point in more than a decade.

This news comes as we mark World Press Freedom Day. Established by the U.N., this day is meant to to remember journalists who have been imprisoned or silenced for doing their job and to encourage governments around the world to respect the freedom of the press.

The I Files team has put together a playlist highlighting the high-stakes challenges that journalists face in many countries around the world.

YouTube video

This PBS “NewsHour” piece by KQED and the Center for Investigative Reporting goes inside Iran with a report by an anonymous journalist investigating how the government is cracking down on reporters and defense attorneys for crimes against national security.

“Journalism under anti-terrorism law” explores how the Ethiopian government is using an anti-terror law imported from the U.S. to blur the line between what is considered terrorism and what is considered journalism.

And here in the U.S., ABC’s “Nightline” investigates the possible chilling effect of new laws that prohibit the undercover filming of animal cruelty and agricultural abuses on private farm properties.

Other videos detail the struggles of journalists in Mexico, Russia and Syria – all cited in the Freedom House report as some of the most repressive and dangerous places for journalists to work.

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Amanda Pike (she/her) is the director of the TV and documentary department and executive producer of films and series at Reveal. Under her leadership, The Center for Investigative Reporting garnered its first Academy Award nomination and four national Emmys, among other accolades. She was the executive producer of the inaugural year of the Glassbreaker Films initiative, supporting women in documentary filmmaking and investigative journalism. She has spent the past two decades reporting and producing documentaries for PBS, CBS, ABC, National Geographic, A&E, Lifetime and The Learning Channel, among others. Subjects have ranged from militia members in Utah to young entrepreneurs in Egypt and genocide perpetrators in Cambodia. Pike also has dabbled in fiction filmmaking, producing the short film “On the Assassination of the President,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. She is a graduate of Princeton University and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. She is based in Reveal's Emeryville, California, office.