Short answers, pulled from the story.
Reporters Without Borders was founded in Montpellier, France, in 1985 by Robert Ménard, Rémy Loury, Jacques Molénat, and Émilien Jubineau. It was registered as a non-profit organisation in 1995. Robert Ménard served as its first secretary general.
The World Press Freedom Index is an annual publication by Reporters Without Borders that measures the state of media freedom in 180 countries. It is one of the organisation's principal tools for documenting and comparing press freedom conditions globally.
Operation Collateral Freedom is a programme launched by RSF in 2014 that creates mirror sites for censored websites, providing readers in restricted countries with alternative access to blocked information. By March 2020, the programme had unblocked 21 websites across 12 countries, including Iran, China, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam.
The Journalism Trust Initiative is a programme launched by RSF in 2018, together with the European Broadcasting Union, Agence France-Presse, and the Global Editors Network. It sets standards around transparency, governance, and accountability for news outlets, and by November 2025 more than 2,000 media organisations worldwide had registered, including the Associated Press and BBC World News.
RSF reported 110 journalists killed in the course of their work in 2015. In 2016, it counted 348 imprisoned journalists and 52 hostages, with nearly two-thirds of those imprisoned held in Turkey, China, Syria, Egypt, and Iran. The 2018 annual report recorded more than 80 journalists killed and 348 currently imprisoned.
The RSF Press Freedom Prize was created in 1992 and honours journalists who have faced threats or imprisonment for their work and challenged abuses of power. In 2018 RSF expanded the prize into categories for courage, independence, and impact. Later additions include the Lucas Dolega-SAIF Photo Prize, introduced in 2023, and the Mohamed Maiga Prize for African Investigative Journalism, introduced in 2024.