Andrew Levinson: 2008 - Committee to Protect Journalists

Blog

News Wrap for 8/8/08

By Andrew Levinson/Communications Assistant

With the arrival of 8.8.08, the Olympics begin. But even with the fireworks and fanfare, China's human rights record is still the focus of many news reports today, including coverage from Agence France-Presse, an editorial in The Philadelphia Inquirer, reporting from The Chicago Tribune, and a blog as well as an article from The Wall Street Journal.

News outlets across Asia continue to cover the death of Philippine radio broadcaster Martin Roxas, who was shot and killed outside his Radio Mindanao office yesterday. The Philippines' GMA News has coverage of our alert on the shooting, the Philippine Daily Inquirer's Web site, Inquirer.net, is covering the story. The Associated Press has also reported on the incident.

Blog

News Wrap for 8/7/08

By Andrew Levinson/Communications Assistant

The Bangkok Post has coverage of our alert from last night that called for a full government investigation into the killing of Thai journalist Athiwat Chaiyanurat.

Also out of Thailand, reaction to President Bush's speech in Bangkok takes center stage across the news media today. CNN.com outlines Bush's comments and China's response. The New York Times also weighs in with coverage of the president's trip as does England's The Independent. Bloomberg updates its coverage from yesterday. CPJ sent a letter to the Bush yesterday, urging him to push for the release of imprisoned journalists in China, which is still the world's leading jailer of journalists, with CPJ's research putting the total at 26.

In the Philippines, reports are surfacing about the death of another radio broadcaster. Agence France-Presse is reporting that Martin Roxas, program director of Radio Mindanao Network, was shot and killed yesterday in the city of Capiz. Colleague Dennis Cuesta, who was shot on Monday, is still in critical condition.

Blog

News Wrap for 8/6/08

By Andrew Levinson/Communications Assistant

Yesterday's shooting of Philippine journalist Dennis Cuesta is still the focal point of a series of stories this morning. GMA News is running a follow-up piece, the Philippine Daily Inquirer's site, Inqurier.net, has a story outlining the international media's response to the incident, and The Macau Daily Times also has a news brief about the violent attack.

Also in the news today is widespread coverage of President Bush's planned remarks on human rights issues in Asia, specifically China, which he will deliver in Thailand on Thursday. The Associated Press has a full transcript of the remarks. The Washington Post, and Bloomberg both have extensive coverage of the president's trip to the region.

The Tehran Times is running yesterday's Reuters story about the detention of Iraqi Reuters cameraman Ali al-Mashhadani, who has been detained by U.S. forces for the third time without charge since 2005.

Blog

News Wrap for 8/5/08

By Andrew Levinson/Communications Assistant

Reuters is reporting that an unnamed gunman fired on a Philippine radio broadcaster earlier today in Manila. The journalist, Dennis Cuesta, was not killed but is in critical condition in a local hospital. This continues an unfortunate trend in the Philippines, a country that we rank as the sixth most dangerous for journalists. The Sydney Morning Herald is also running a story on the shooting and the Philippine Web site Inquirer has a piece that updates the medical condition of Cuesta.

Also in the news are the deadly explosions in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Agence France-Presse is reporting that the Chinese have apologized to two Japanese reporters who were attacked by police while trying to cover the story.

Late yesterday, Reuters picked up our alert calling for the release of their cameraman, Ali al-Mashhadani, who was detained by U.S. forces on July 26 while attempting to renew his press card inside the green zone. This is the third time al-Mashhadani has been jailed by U.S. forces without charge; in one instance, he was detained for five months beginning in August 2005. The Reuters story has been picked up by Web sites across the Internet, with ABS-CBN, The Mirror, and The US Daily running the piece.

Blog

News Wrap for 8/4/2008

By Andrew Levinson/Communications Assistant

With the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games only four days away, attention in the news media continues to center on the issues of openness and freedom in China. The Miami Herald has an editorial in today's edition of the paper that wonders if the Chinese government can escape the grip of "their old, restrictive practices."

The Guardian also ran an editorial over the weekend discussing whether China's reversal on limiting Internet access is nothing more than the first small step in a very long journey toward unrestricted media freedom.

In a story on Sunday, The Associated Press reports on the news that Olympic protesters have been told they must register five days in advance to protect "national interests."

Also on Sunday, The Associated Press released the newest version of "Iraq by the numbers," a regular report that outlines various statistics from the war, including the number of journalists killed, which they put at 130--the same number tallied by CPJ.

Blog

News Wrap for 7/31/08

By Andrew Levinson/Communications Assistant

The fallout continues from yesterday's revelation that China will not honor its promise to have unfettered Internet access. Sally Jean Kearney has a blog post about the issue on The Huffington Post this morning and Bloomberg updates their coverage as well with a news item called "Beijing Censorship 'Betrays' Olympic Values." The Toronto Star is also covering the censorship issue on their Web site today.

Other news outlets writing on the China censorship story today include The Age and ABC Net in Australia, Agence France-Presse, The Macau Daily Times, and Editor's Weblog has a blog post online.

The Associated Press is running a story about the release of detained Afghani TV anchor Naseer Fayyaz. The story says that international outcry against his detention, including our on-the-record statements, played an important role in his release earlier today.

Also today, the Web site Axis Globe has is running a news brief about the arrest and subsequent beating of editor Zurab Tsechoyev in Russia's Ingushetia republic.

Blog

News Wrap for 7/30/08

By Andrew Levinson/Communications Assistant

China's recent decision to reverse its pledge for open and uncensored Internet access during the upcoming Olympics is the topic of many stories around the world this morning.

Agence France-Presse is running a wire story outlining the concerns surrounding the controversial policy switch. The First Post, a Web-only magazine based in the UK, has a short piece called "The Great Firewall of China" and England's Daily Telegraph is also covering the story. The online edition of The South China Morning Post has an article stating that the IOC has apologized for "misleading foreign journalists" on the issue.

The Web site RaWa News follows up yesterday's coverage of the arrest of Naseer Fayyaz, discussing the outcry over his arrest from CPJ and other human rights groups.

In other news from early today, The Toronto Star is running an editorial about concerns surrounding police and military members impersonating journalists in hostage situations. The issue has come to the forefront since the July 2 hostage rescue mission in Colombia, in which members of the military concealed themselves as journalists and aid workers.

Reuters ran a story late yesterday that focused on our coverage of violence against a local editor in the Russian republic of Ingushetia. The attack occurred last Friday when Zurab Tsechoyev, editor of the website Mashr, was allegedly abducted, tortured, and interrogated for five hours.

Also late breaking was afrol News's coverage of the suspension of independent radio station "Harvest FM" in Lesotho. We released an alert condemning this action on July 28.

Blog

News Wrap for 7/29/08

By Andrew Levinson/Communications Assistant

ESPN's "Olympics Photo Wire" highlights China's failure to meet basic press freedom standards with a shot of a foreign journalist working in Beijing. ESPN points out that despite promises to the contrary, many Internet sites will be censored or blocked, even for foreign reporters.

The Guardian's "Greenslade" blog takes a look at so-called tabloid journalism in England today, and discusses how it affects press freedom as a whole.

Afghanistan's RaWa News Web site has an article online about the arrest of TV anchor and writer Naseer Fayyaz. The reporter was arrested on July 28, allegedly in connection with criticism leveled against the Afghan government on his show "Haqeeqat."

Finally, this morning, Jossip has a news item about the appointment of CPJ board member Mark Whitaker as the new chief of NBC's Washington bureau.

Blog

News Wrap for 7/28/08

By Andrew Levinson/Communications Assistant

The International Herald Tribune takes a looks at the recent murder of Cambodian journalist Khim Sambor, who worked for one of only two opposition papers operating in the Southeast Asian country. The article also examines the overall press freedom climate in Cambodia as the nation held presidential elections over the weekend.

The burning of a journalist's house in Brazil last week is the topic of discussion at Brazil Magazine. The journalist, Jeso Carniero, said he believes the attack was in retaliation for some critical coverage of local politicians that appeared on his show, "Opiniao."

The Wall Street Journal writes about China's continued inability to meet the promises made about press freedom as we approach the start of the 2008 Olympic Games.

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