Impact

CPJ launched the Journalist Security Guide recently, which provides reporters with concrete steps to minimize the dangers of digital and physical reporting. In the guide, Danny O'Brien, CPJ's Internet advocacy coordinator, and Frank Smyth, CPJ's senior security consultant, discuss the threats facing journalists and outline the relevant steps journalists should take in considering their safety.

The guide, which was created in consultation with prominent journalists such as Sebastian Junger, Umar Cheema, and Carolyn Cole, includes six videos and also features guidelines on protecting digital information, preparing for armed conflict, covering organized crime, and mitigating the risk of sexual violence.

To continuously present journalists with up-to-date security information, CPJ is also launching the Journalist Security Blog, a platform that features posts by CPJ and guest bloggers on safer mobile use, first-aid training courses, and new ways to ensure journalist safety. 

The Journalist Security Guide is available online in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish. It can also be downloaded in e-reader, iBook, and pdf formats.  

Journalist released after 163 days

CPJ was pleased to report on the January release of imprisoned journalist Hermann Aboa, who languished behind bars for 163 days. The former Ivorian state TV presenter was freed on bail after being jailed in July 21 on antistate charges for his role as a moderator of a political talk show on state TV during the rule of deposed former President Laurent Gbagbo.

CPJ called for Aboa's immediate and unconditional release and urged Ivorian prosecutors to drop the politicized charges against him, which included endangering state security and public order, participating in an insurrection, and inciting ethnic hatred. CPJ reviewed the case and determined any charges based on Aboa's performance as a journalist were baseless.

CPJ announces 2011 press freedom awards

Journalist ID'd in WikiLeaks cable, flees Ethiopia

U.S. diplomatic cables disclosed last month by WikiLeaks cited Ethiopian journalist Argaw Ashine by name and referred to his unnamed government source, forcing Ashine to flee the country after police interrogated him over the source's identity. It is the first instance CPJ has confirmed in which a citation in one of the cables has caused direct repercussions for a journalist.

After learning about Ashine's forced exile, CPJ's Africa and Journalist Assistance programs collaborated to assist him. Once at a safe location, Ashine worked with CPJ to tell the world about his abrupt exile. The story generated international attention, along with a critical reply from WikiLeaks. CPJ has defended WikiLeaks in the past when it faced potential prosecution under espionage laws, but we have overriding interest in protecting the safety of journalists. CPJ is now reviewing the more than 200,000 cables recently disclosed by WikiLeaks--most of which were unredacted--to determine whether any other journalists are cited.

Detention of a new suspect in the Politkovskaya murder

In a significant development in the investigation into the murder of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation--the agency tasked with solving Politkovskaya's murder--announced on August 16 that it had detained retired Lt. Col. Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov on suspicion of having organized the crime. Pavlyuchenkov had worked as the head of surveillance at Moscow's Main Internal Affairs Directorate, the city's main police force, when Politkovskaya was shot dead in her apartment building in 2006. Investigators allege Pavlyuchenkov received payment for planning the journalist's murder and recruiting assailants to carry it out. The alleged gunman was arrested in late May. 

CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova spent the past three months in Russia researching impunity cases. In September 2010, a CPJ delegation met with the Investigative Committee, which resulted in a pledge by the committee to re-investigate several of the 19 unsolved murders of journalists in Russia, including the case of Politkovskaya. 

Still struggling for a free Cuban press

As Cuba implements economic reforms and prepares to introduce high-speed Internet, freedom of expression continues to be met with a policy of repression that stifles the free flow of information, according to a new report by CPJ.

The report examines government activities in March and April 2011, a time when sensitive political milestones on the island coincided with 50 instances of independent journalists' repression. In the report, CPJ makes recommendations to the Cuban government, the European Union, the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the U.S. government, and the technology and blogging communities.