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New York, October 28, 2008--After two years of intense negotiations, a diverse coalition of Internet companies, academics, socially responsible investors, and human rights groups, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, is launching the Global Network Initiative, an important first step in establishing guidelines for the communications and information industries to protect freedom of expression and privacy.

As the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing came to an official close yesterday, many news outlets are looking at back what the Games mean for human rights in China. The Canadian Press has a piece arguing that nothing has changed, despite the pleasant face China put on for its international visitors.

The Ottawa Citizen  is running a story that questions whether the price paid by restricting press freedom was justified by a the completion of a highly successful Olympics. The News and Observer in North Carolina looks at the case of Shi Tao, a former CPJ IPFA winner and journalist still imprisoned in China, against the backdrop of China's Olympic triumph. Also, The Huffington Post has a look at the legacy of the Beijing Olympics.

In news out of Iraq today, The Associated Press has a story about Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, inviting the Iraqi press to his office to quash rumors that he had fallen ill. The cleric has been openly critical of the press in the past.

Tribune Magazine, published in the UK, has a detailed article that examines the dire situation for the press in Mexico. CPJ held a meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon in June  in which the president pledged his support to federalize crimes against freedom of expression.

Kristin Jones has been doing a great job monitoring the Chinese media and the more unofficial online world. One of the realities she has pointed out is the similarity of coverage across China's media when sensitive issues crop up. There is a reason for that.

An interesting piece, "Screws tighten on mainland journalists," ran in the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's largest English-language daily. SCMP staff in Beijing spoke with some Chinese reporters recently and they told SCMP of a 21-point directive that came down last month from the Central Propaganda Department. Taboo subjects include everything from seating arrangements for dignitaries at the opening ceremonies, food safety issues, and an outright ban on using any source of information other than the official Xinhua News Agency for Games-related scandals. The standard rules for referring to Taiwan (the acceptable form is "Chinese Taipei" not the Republic of China (Taiwan) were also on the list, but no mainland Chinese reporter really needs to be reminded of that. 

CPJ wrote an open letter to President Bush today, calling on him to raise the issue of China's jailed journalists when he gets to Beijing. We put the current number of journalists behind bars at 26, which makes China the largest jailer of journalists in the world, the dubious distinction it has held since 1999. In our letter to Bush we specifically mention two jailed journalists by name--Hu Jia and Shi Tao--but you can find details on all of the cases in Falling Short, our pre-Olympics report on media conditions in China.

August 6, 2008

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

By facsimile: 202-456-2461

Dear President Bush,

We are heartened to hear that on Thursday, before embarking for Beijing to attend the Olympic opening ceremony, you will deliver a speech in Bangkok reiterating U.S. commitment to press freedom and other human rights. The Associated Press, which reported on the prepared text of your speech, also said that you are expected to raise these issues with China's leaders once you arrive in Beijing.