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The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) fights for the rights of journalists around the world to report the news freely, without fear of reprisals. As a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, CPJ relies solely on contributions from individuals and corporations to carry out our important work. In order to preserve our independence, we do not accept any government grants or support of any kind. Click here to see a list of supporters—which include media companies, foundations, corporations, and individuals—working with us to advance freedom of the press.


WHAT WE DO WITH YOUR MONEY

Individual and corporate donations help us investigate, publicize, and protest attacks on press freedom worldwide. CPJ responds whenever a journalist is in peril. We also assist journalists with urgent needs, such as emergency evacuation, resettlement in exile, medicine, and legal defense. CPJ publishes articles and news releases, special reports, a biannual publication called Dangerous Assignments, and Attacks on the Press, the most comprehensive annual book on press freedom around the world.

Every report we author and distribute, every campaign we undertake to free jailed journalists, and all our missions to countries where journalists are in distress are funded entirely by donations and gifts from supporters. Your tax-deductible contribution and membership will make a crucial difference in the lives of embattled journalists worldwide.


DONATING TO CPJ

In November 2002, CPJ launched a "Comprehensive Campaign" to build the organization's long-term financial stability, with a goal of raising $12 million and creating a permanent endowment. Our campaign is off to a very positive start, with leadership support from major media organizations and corporations dedicated to press freedom (click here for a list of supporters). We invite you to join our campaign; your donations will help CPJ continue to work on behalf of journalists worldwide and to defend those who risk their lives to bring us the news. CPJ is a 501(c)3 nonprofit and all donations are tax-deductible. To make individual donations to the campaign, please contact the Development Department at (212) 465-9344 ext. 144 or development@cpj.org.

Matching Gifts

Many organizations will match their employees' contributions to nonprofit organizations. Please contact your public/corporate affairs office and find out if your company will match your contribution to CPJ. All donations are tax-deductible.

Corporate Donors

CPJ is extremely grateful to its many corporate donors, which include major media organizations, corporations, and financial institutions. All corporate donors are recognized in CPJ promotional materials; are listed in the current supporters section of our Web site; receive the biannual magazine Dangerous Assignments, the electronic newsletter CPJ Update, and our annual publication on press freedom worldwide, Attacks on the Press. Corporate donors are also given priority access to tables at our annual International Press Freedom Awards dinner, which has been a sold-out event for more than 12 years.

To become a corporate donor to CPJ, please choose one of the following options:

Corporate Leader
Corporate Underwriter
Sponsor
Patron
Friend
Benefactor
 $50,000
$25,000
$15,000
$10,000
$5,000
$1,000


Foundations

CPJ is grateful to the many foundations that have supported its activities and worked closely with CPJ to defend press freedom in the more than 120 countries we monitor. Program officers or members of foundations interested in learning more about CPJ should contact the Department of Development and Outreach via e-mail or call Elena Snyder at (212) 465-9344 ext. 109.

You can also write to:
Department of Development and Outreach
Committee to Protect Journalists
330 Seventh Avenue, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10001

In-kind Donations

In-kind donations and services can make a significant difference to CPJ. Consider donating a broad range of products and services, including research; technology; advertising; publicity; printing; graphic design; photography; video; office space; furniture; and equipment. Write to development@cpj.org or call (212) 465-9344 ext. 144.

Memorial Contributions

If you would like to make a contribution in memory of a family member, friend, or journalist or in honor of someone's special occasion, please contact the Development Department. All contributions will be acknowledged in the Current Supporters section of the Web site and in the print edition of Attacks on the Press. CPJ will send a letter to whomever you choose notifying them of your gift.

Name CPJ in your will

Including the Committee to Protect Journalists in your estate plans is a wonderful way to help ensure the organization’s future, and it is easy to carry out. A charitable bequest to CPJ may be included in your will when it is written or revised. You may also add a bequest through a codicil, a separate document consisting of an amendment to an existing will. All charitable bequests are fully deductible from your gross estate.

The following examples are meant to illustrate a variety of bequest techniques. You should consult an attorney to adapt this language to your individual circumstances as part of an overall estate plan.

A specific bequest is a gift of a particular dollar amount or a particular piece of property.
For example: I bequeath (dollar amount or description of property) to the Committee to Protect Journalists (or its successor).

A residuary bequest is a gift of all or part of the property remaining in your estate after debts, expenses, and specific bequests have been paid. When you use a percentage instead of a specific amount, your gift will stay relatively the same in proportion to your entire estate, regardless of unexpected increases or decreases in its value.

For example: I give, bequeath, and devise (all, or XX percent of) the rest, residue, and remainder of the property, both real and personal, wherever situated, which I may own or be entitled to at my death, to the Committee to Protect Journalists (or its successor).

A contingent bequest is a gift that takes effect only if the primary beneficiary or beneficiaries of the bequest predecease you.

For example: If neither my husband nor any descendants of mine survive me, then I give, bequeath, and devise all the rest, residue, and remainder of the property, both real and personal, wherever situated, which I may own or be entitled to at my death, to the Committee to Protect Journalists (or its successor).


Include CPJ in your retirement plans

Retirement Plans

One of the most cost-effective ways of including the Committee to Protect Journalists in your estate plans is to leave either the remainder or a portion of the remainder of your retirement plan to the Committee to Protect Journalists. If the unused portion of your pension fund, 401k, or IRA is assigned to any individual(s) other than a spouse, it is subject to an estate tax at your death, as well as an income tax when received by the heirs (if your estate is $650,000 or more). The two combined could erode up to 80 percent of the remaining benefits. If bequeathed to the Committee to Protect Journalists, those funds would escape both income and estate taxes, thereby reducing your taxable estate.

Life Insurance

If you own a life insurance policy that is no longer needed for the protection of your family or for other purposes, you may use it to make a gift to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The simplest way is to make the Committee to Protect Journalists both owner and irrevocable beneficiary of the policy, which would entitle you to an income tax deduction based on either the total value of the premiums paid, or the cash surrender value, whichever is less. An alternative is to name the Committee to Protect Journalists beneficiary of a policy you receive through your place of employment.



BECOME A MEMBER

All CPJ members receive a subscription to CPJ's biannual magazine, Dangerous Assignments, as well as our electronic newsletter, CPJ Update. Members can also opt to receive e-mail alerts, protest letters, and special reports from selected geographical regions. If you'd like to become a member of CPJ, please choose one of the following options:
Friend
Benefactor
Supporter
Contributor
Participant
Student		 $5,000
$1,000
$500
$100
$45
$20

Click here to fill out a membership form

Thank you for your interest in CPJ, and for helping us to defend journalists and press freedom.

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Thanks to OSI gift,
Massing Emergency Response Fund is created

On November 21, 2006, at CPJ’s International Press Freedom Awards dinner, Aryeh Neier, president of the Open Society Institute, announced a $1 million dollar gift to establish the Michael Massing Emergency Response Fund. The fund is named for CPJ co-founder and board member Michael Massing.

At the core of CPJ’s advocacy are its missions. CPJ’s emergency response activities have enabled the organization to carry out more than a dozen missions annually, along with regular embassy visits and advocacy campaigns. OSI’s gift helps to strengthen this critical work.

In 2006, CPJ completed 14 missions to 17 countries: Indonesia, Yemen, Belarus, Turkey, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, China, Colombia, Gambia, Burkina Faso, Brazil, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Ukraine. CPJ began 2007 with missions in January to Venezuela to assess the ability of the press to cover elections freely, and to Russia to demand a thorough and transparent investigation into the October 7, 2006, assassination of Novaya Gazeta special correspondent Anna Politkovskaya.


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CPJ Impact
February 11, 2008

Attacks on the Press released in six cities worldwide
CPJ staff and board members traveled the world in February to present our annual report Attacks on the Press. In Berlin, Cairo, Hong Kong, London, New York, and Washington, CPJ held panels, press conferences and briefings to raise awareness about our advocacy and received unprecedented media coverage. In Berlin, board member Norm Pearlstine, Chairman Paul Steiger, Executive Director Joel Simon, Europe expert Nina Ognianova, and Novaya Gazeta Editor-in-Chief and 2007 IPFA award-winner Dmitry Muratov took part in a panel discussion at the American Academy. Senior Middle East Program Coordinator Joel Campagna presented his regional findings in Cairo. Board members Christiane Amanpour and David Marash briefed the press at the United Nations in New York with Deputy Director Rob Mahoney and Senior Americas Program Coordinator Carlos Lauria. In Hong Kong, Asia Program Coordinator Bob Dietz met with journalists while editors and reporters in London attended a lunch briefing at the Frontline Club.

In Afghanistan, CPJ urges Karzai to pardon journalist sentenced to death
In a letter to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, CPJ urged him to act quickly to legally resolve the case of Parwez Kambakhsh, a journalism student who was sentenced to death on blasphemy charges for distributing an article from the Internet about the rights of women in Islam. Kambakhsh has been held since October 2007 and has no legal representation. His case has drawn international outrage, including protest letters and news reports from CPJ.
 
CPJ launches petition to free Chinese journalists
As part of its ongoing campaign to urge China to adopt reforms promised when the International Olympic Committee awarded the country the 2008 Olympics, CPJ delivered more than 500 advocacy cards to the Chinese Consulate in New York on January 31 urging the government to release 29 jailed journalists. Days later, prominent Hong Kong-based journalist Ching Cheong was released, and one other journalist who had completed his sentence was released, bringing the total number of jailed journalists to 27. CPJ also launched an online petition. Members of the public can sign CPJ’s online petition and have their voices heard. Those names will be collected and submitted formally later this year.

CPJ advocates for bloggers in Middle East
CPJ reacted swiftly when Fouad Ahmed al-Farhan, a leading Saudi blogger, was jailed in early December 2007. Al-Farhan, who publishes the popular political blog Alfarhan, has been detained by Saudi officials since December 10, 2007, without charge, allegedly for comments posted to his blog. In letters sent to Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, and President Bush, CPJ called for al-Farhan’s immediate release and urged President Bush to advocate for the blogger during his visit to the region in January. CPJ’s Joel Campagna was also recently a featured blogger on the popular Huffington Post Web site, where he tracked the rise in oppression faced by many bloggers in the Mideast.

2007 Deadliest Year for the Press in Over a Decade, CPJ Study Finds
Violence in Iraq and Somalia made 2007 the deadliest year for journalists in more than a decade, according to a widely covered CPJ annual survey of journalist deaths. A total of 65 journalists were killed in connection to their work, and for the fifth straight year, Iraq was the world’s deadliest country for the press. Its 32 victims accounted for nearly half the 2007 toll. Somalia was the second-deadliest country, with seven journalist deaths. To combat these trends, CPJ announced a global campaign against impunity in November to help fight for justice in journalist murders. CPJ’s tally received widespread international and domestic attention that included articles in The New York Times, Washington Post, and stories on CNN, the AP, AFP, Reuters, and The Huffington Post.

 

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