Gaby Ramirez here. Somehow, we’ve already made it halfway through 2025. And at Unbias the News, it’s been a busy, urgent time. We’ve been working with journalists around the world to bring you powerful, underreported stories about democracy and the people fighting to protect or rebuild it, sometimes at great personal risk.
You may recall that last year was dubbed “the year of democracy.” Over 70 countries held elections. Billions were called to the polls. And yet, there is a huge contradiction: more people voted in 2024 than ever before, and still, according to The Economist’s Democracy Index,global democracy fell to its lowest level in the last 20 years.
How does that make sense? How can so many voices be raised and still not heard?
It’s not a simple answer. But here’s one piece of the puzzle: the biggest drop in global democracy didn’t come from democratic countries sliding backward. It came from authoritarian states sinking even deeper into repression. As of today, nearly 40% of the world’s population lives under such regimes. That’s 60 out of the 165 countries assessed by the Index.
These regimes are not opening up, even when pressure mounts. They’re tightening their grip. And disturbingly, they’re learning from each other: studying tactics of censorship, surveillance, and suppression, and perfecting them.
But that’s not the end of the story.
If we’ve learned anything from our work on the Democracy Playbook so far, it’s that even in the most constrained environments, people always push back.
From Liberian women, who came together across religious lines to stage silent prayer vigils, sex strikes, and sit‑ins that ultimately forced a warlord president and rebel leaders to negotiate peace during Liberia’s brutal civil war to Russian eco‑activists sustaining a legacy of environmental resistance from Soviet times despite increasing state repression, to refugees in Libya and Italy organizing themselves to resist abandonment in bus‑blockades and protest camps.
That’s what our reporting tries to capture: the nuance behind this decline. The cracks in the system. The people who learn from each other and are fighting to fix it.
So stick with us, because we have a lot more stories to share.
Warmly,
Gabriela Ramirez, Multimedia Editor
What Changed Your View of Democracy?
We would love to hear from you. What book, movie, article, podcast, series, or even comic made you think differently about democracy? Was there a story that pushed you to ask bigger questions or even to take action?
You can let us know what’s inspiring you these days by filling out this quick form. Your responses will be featured in an upcoming Democracy Playbook article.
One more thing:
We know how overwhelming social media platforms can get. Algorithms decide what you see, timelines move too fast, and important stories get buried. That’s why we’re inviting you to join us directly—on our 📱 WhatsApp and Telegram Channels and of course our monthly 📩 Newsletter. If someone forwarded this email to you, you can subscribe here
Berlin: Save the Date
We are inviting our community in Berlin to a get-together on Wednesday, July 16th, for a summer after-work journalism mixer. More details will follow soon.
In the meantime, dive into our “Democracy Playbook” and keep coming back because more stories will keep running over the summer.
Our mountains of gold shall be green: The fight to protect Romania’s Rosia Montana
This year’s COP, the UN’s 30th global climate summit, is hosted by Belém. The Brazilian media has become obsessed with Belém’s poverty and underdevelopment – shortcomings that weren’t deemed newsworthy until the urban Amazon became a focus of the world’s attention. But what does it mean to be prepared? For whom?
France is a far bigger and more diverse nation than even many French people acknowledge. In hanging on to former colonies, the Republic promised its overseas citizens the same rights as those on the mainland. In practice, they suffer from chronic underinvestment locally, and systemic prejudice if they relocate to the center of power.
While European cities face record-shattering heat due to climate change, not all residents are affected equally. Indoor heat sensors show scorching temps in areas with lower-income housing, compounded by neglectful urban planning and pollution- a combination that is creating health risks in urban peripheries.
“The people who face the most barriers are often those who need our care the most – and yet their voices are not the ones we hear in maternity care.”
