Kiri

Joint statement on proposed changes to US visas for foreign journalists We, the undersigned, representing leading broadcast, print and digital media, news organizations and journalists’ organizations around the world, call on the United States Government to withdraw its recent proposal to change the I visa programme for foreign journalists. The current I visa framework, which typically allows for stays of up to five years, has for decades ensured that international journalists can report accurately on rolling and breaking news in the United States. By spending years, not months, on the ground, journalists gain the deep knowledge, trusted networks and contextual immersion needed to explain America to global audiences. This serves a critical U.S. interest: ensuring that America’s policies, culture, and leadership are clearly and accurately communicated to international audiences in their own languages. The proposal to limit visas to 240 days would disrupt this proven system, create instability for correspondents and their families, and reduce the quantity and quality of coverage coming from the U.S. That risks leaving the world less informed about American news and current affairs. Rival nations and powerful adversaries will waste no time in filling the resulting vacuum with narratives about the U.S. that serve their own interests before the truth. We recognize the importance of national security and visa integrity, but the proposed change will not advance these priorities. The existing I visa program already provides for strict accountability, transparency and compliance by tying each visa to a specific journalist and their employer. Curtailing it will not strengthen security—it will just weaken the world's understanding of American life, including around events like the Olympic Games and national elections. The U.S.A. has always stood for openness, freedom of expression and a strong, independent press. Restricting foreign media access risks undermining that legacy because it emulates countries where press freedom is near extinct. That would damage, not enhance, America’s global standing. We therefore urge the Administration to maintain the existing I visa framework, which supports the United States in projecting strength, credibility, and leadership worldwide. We also stand ready for further dialogue with the U.S. authorities on how best to achieve these shared objectives. Signatories: 1. 3Cat (Catalan Public Service Media) 2. Agence France Presse (AFP) Phil Chetwynd, Global News Director 3. Alianza Informative Latinoamericana Juan Carlos Isaza, Executive Director 4. Altinget Veslemoy Ostrem, Editor-in-Chief 5. Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) Abdelrahim Suleiman, Director General 6. ARTE Heike Hempel, President 7. Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Ahmed Nadeem, Secretary-General 8. Association of Commercial Television and VOD Services in Europe (ACT) 9. Association of European Radios (AER) 10. Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the USA (AFPC-USA) 11. Association of Independent Regional Oksana Brovko, CEO Press Publishers of Ukraine 12. Association of Norwegian Editors Reidun Kjelling Nybø, Secretary General 13. Association of Public Broadcasters in Katja Wildermuth, Director General, Germany (ARD) Bayerischer Rundfunk 14. Australian Broadcasting Corporation Justin Stevens, Director of News (ABC) 15. Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) Roland Weissmann, Director General 16. Bloomberg News 17. Bell Media Richard Gray, Vice-President, CTV News 18. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Tim Davie, Director General 19. Bulgarian National Television (BNT) Emil Koshlukov, Director General 20. Bundesverband Digitalpublisher und Dr. Jörg Eggers, CEO Zeitungsverleger 21. Canadian Association of Journalists Brent Jolly, President (CAJ) 22. Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) 23. CBC/Radio-Canada Brodie Fenlon, General Manager and Editor-in-Chief, CBC News; Luce Julien, General Manager, News and Current Affairs, Radio Canada 24. Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) 25. Corporación Radiotelevisión Española José Pablo López Sánchez, President (RTVE) 26. Croatian Radio and Television (HRT) Robert Šveb, Director General 27. Czech Publishers Association Tomáš Tkačík, Chairman 28. Czech Radio René Zavoral, Director General 29. Czech Television Hynek Chudárek, Director General 30. Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) Bjarne Fog Corydon, Director General 31. Deutschlandradio Stefan Raue, Director General 32. Die Zeit Giovanni di Lorenzo and Jochen Wegner, Editors-in-Chief 33. DW (Deutsche Welle) Peter Limbourg, Director General 34. Eesti Rahvusringhääling Erik Roose, Chairman and CEO (Estonian Television) 35. Estonian Association of News Media Väino Koorberg, CEO Enterprises 36. European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) 37. European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Delphine Ernotte Cunci, President, and Noel Curran, Director General 38. European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) 39. European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) Ricardo Gutierrez, General Secretary 40. European Magazine Media Association (EMMA) 41. European News Exchange (ENEX) Adrian Wells, Managing Director 42. European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA) 43. European Publishers Council (EPC) Angela Mills Wade, Executive Director 44. Feature Story News Simon Marks, President 45. Foreign Press Association (FPA) Ian Williams, President 46. France Médias Monde Marie-Christine Saragosse, CEO 47. France Télévisions Delphine Ernotte Cunci, CEO 48. Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) Tina Berdzenishvili, Director General 49. Global News Sonia Verma, Editor-in-Chief 50. Hungarian Publishers' Association Tibor Kovacs, President 51. Index on Censorship Jemimah Steinfeld, CEO 52. Inter American Press Association 53. International Federation of Journalists Anthony Bellanger, General Secretary (IFJ) 54. International Press Institute (IPI) Scott Griffen, Executive Director 55. International Publishers Association (IPA) 56. ITV Laura Wilshaw, Editor, ITV News 57. Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Shiro Nakamura, Chair Association (NSK) 58. Journalists for Human Rights Rachel Pulfer, President 59. JP/Politikens Hus Stig Kirk Ørskov, CEO 60. Korean Association of Newspapers Chai Chung, Lim, President 61. La Presse Francois Cardinal, VP-Deputy Publisher 62. La Radio-télévision belge de la Jean Paul Philippot, Director General Communauté française (RTBF) 63. Latvian Publishers Association Maris Ancs, Chair of the Board 64. Lithuanian National Radio and Television Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė, (LRT) Director General 65. Luxembourg Association of News Media Paul Peckels, President (ALMI) 66. Media For Europe (MFE) 67. Neue Zürcher Zeitung Dr. Felix Graf, CEO, and Simon Jakob, Senior Legal Counsel 68. News Media Canada Paul Deegan, President and CEO 69. News Media Europe Wout van Wijk, Editor-in-Chief 70. North American Broadcasters Rebecca Hanson, Director General Association (NABA) 71. Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation Vibeke Furst Haugen, Director General, (NRK) and Sigurd Falkenberg Mikkelsen, Editor of Foreign Affairs 72. Norwegian Union of Journalists Dag Idar Tryggestad, President 73. NOS (Dutch Public Broadcaster for Renate Eringa, General Manager News) 74. NPO (Dutch Public Broadcaster) Lucien Brouwer, Board of Directors 75. Organización Editorial Mexicana (OEM) Martha Ramos, Chief Editorial Officer 76. Pacific Media Network (PMN) Don Mann, CEO, Pacific Media Network 77. Private Newspapers and Online News David Tamakloe, President Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG) 78. Project Kontinuum Branko Brkic, Leader 79. Public Media Alliance (PMA) 80. Public Television Company of Armenia 81. Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) Nicolau Santos, President 82. Radio France Sibyle Veil, President and Director General 83. Radio New Zealand (RNZ) 84. Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI) Giampaolo Rossi, CEO 85. Reporters Committee for Freedom of Bruce D. Brown, President the Press 86. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Thibaut Bruttin, Director General 87. Reuters 88. Ringier Hungary Tibor Kovacs, CEO 89. Ringier Media Dmitry Shishkin, Strategic Editorial Advisor 90. Rory Peck Trust Jon Williams, Executive Director 91. RTCG Boris Raonić, Director General 92. RTÉ Kevin Bakhurst, Director General 93. RTV Slovenia Natalija Gorščak, President of the Management Board 94. RÚV Stefán Eiríksson, Director General 95. Sky News Tim Singleton, Head of International News 96. SRG SSR Susanne Wille, Director General 97. Star Media Group Esther Ng, Chief Content Officer 98. Süddeutsche Zeitung Wolfgang Krach, CEO 99. Suspilne Ukraine Mykola Chernotytskyi, Head of the Managing Board 100. Sveriges Radio / Swedish Radio Cilla Benkö, Director General 101. SVT (Swedish Television) Anne Lagercrantz, CEO 102. The Associated Press (AP) Paul Haven, VP Head of Global News Gathering 103. The Financial Times Brooke Masters, US Managing Editor 104. The Globe and Mail Andrew Saunders, CEO and President 105. The Guardian Katharine Viner, Editor-in-Chief 106. The Irish Times Deirdre Veldon, Group Managing Director 107. Tidningsutgivarna, Swedish Newspaper Johan Taubert, CEO Publishers Association 108. TV2 Denmark Anne Engdal Stig Christensen, CEO 109. Ukrainian Media Business Association Oleksii Pogorelov, President 110. United Daily News George K. Shuang, Managing Director 111. Utbildningsradion (UR) Kalle Sandhammar, CEO 112. VAUNET - German Association of Private Media 113. Verlegerverband Schweizer Medien Andrea Masüger, President (Swiss Publishers Association) 114. Vocento Fernando Belzunce, Executive Editorial Director 115. World Association of News Publishers Ladina Heimgartner, President, and (WAN-IFRA) Vincent Peyregne, CEO 116. World Editors Forum David Walmsley, President 117. Yleisradio Oy (YLE) Merja Ylä-Anttila, CEO 118. ZDF Norbert Himmler, Director General Kultuuriministeerium Välisministeerium Riigikogu väliskomisjon Riigikogu Eesti-USA parlamendirühm 12 . 09. 2025 Välisajakirjanike I-viisad USAs Lugupeetud kultuuriminister Heidy Purga , Saadame teie tähelepanuks enam kui saja meediaorganisatsiooni ühise avaliku kirja, mis kutsub USA valitsust üles loobuma ettepanekust piirata välisajakirjanike I-viisade kehtivust 240 päevaga. Praegune süsteem võimaldab ajakirjanikel viibida USAs kohapeal viis aastat ja see on olnud hädavajalik, et korrespondendid saaksid luua sidemeid usaldusväärsete allikatega, mõista paremini Ameerika ühiskonda ning kajastada sündmusi täpselt ja objektiivselt. Piirangute kehtestamine muudaks ajakirjanike töö ebastabiilseks, raskendaks eluaseme leidmist ja pangateenuste kasutamist ning vähendaks USAst lähtuva ajakirjandusliku kajastuse kvaliteeti ja mahtu. See omakorda looks tühimiku, mille täidaksid kiiresti riigid ja jõud, kelle huvides on levitada moonutatud narratiive. Ühiskirjale allakirjutanud rõhutavad, et praegused viisareeglid tagavad range kontrolli ja läbipaistvuse, mistõttu kavandatav muudatus ei suurendaks julgeolekut, vaid kahjustaks USA kuvandit avatud ja sõnavabadust väärtustava riigina. Lugupidamisega Väino Koorberg Juhatuse liige