The website for the charity Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans Frontières) keeps a tally of the amount of deaths of journalists each year, and this grim figure currently stands at 43 deaths in 2020, with a further 258 currently imprisoned for charges related to their work.

It is against this backdrop that the charity, which seeks to safeguard press freedom, has released a new ad, highlighting the essential role that journalists play in exposing corruption and abuse around the world.

The hard-hitting spot, created by BETC and directed by Vincent Rodella, features a series of situations that journalists regularly expose: including the abuse of prisoners, the death of migrants and refugees, and women and girls forced into unwanted marriages.

As the ad continues, it makes the point that without the support of reporters, these cases would go unheard, and that “reality only exists if someone reports it”. In an age of increasing conspiracy theories and accusations of fake news against the media from those in power, this work is clearly more important than ever.

Credits:
Agency: BETC
ECD: Stéphane Xiberras
Associate Creative Directors: Dominique Marchand, Jean-Michel Alirol
Creatives: Jean-Michel Alirol, Audrey Coffignot, Dominique Marchand
Production company: Birth
Director: Vincent Rodella
Post-production: Mathematic