New York, February 16, 2006— The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by an official decision to remove two prominent editors as a condition to allow the reopening of the China Youth Daily weekly supplement Bing Dian (Freezing Point). Editors Li Datong and Lu Yuegang told international reporters that Bing Dian, which was shuttered in…
New York, February 16, 2006—A bomb threat halted the trial today of two Chechens charged with killing Forbes-Russia Editor Paul Klebnikov. The hearing, which is closed to the public, will resume February 20, local media reported. Bailiffs cleared the Moscow City Court after the threat which police are investigating. The trial of Kazbek Dukuzov and…
January 11: A killing in Colombia reinforces self-censorship — Gunmen kill radio news host Julio Hernando Palacios Sánchez as he drives to work in Cúcuta. Attacked from all sides, the Colombian press censors itself to an extraordinary degree, CPJ later reports. Probing journalists are killed, detained, or forced to flee. Verified news is suppressed, and…
AFGHANISTAN: 1 Ali Mohaqqiq Nasab, Haqooq-i-Zan (Women’s Rights) Imprisoned: October 1, 2005 The attorney general ordered editor Nasab’s arrest on blasphemy charges after the religious adviser to President Hamid Karzai, Mohaiuddin Baluch, filed a complaint about his magazine. “I took the two magazines and spoke to the Supreme Court chief, who wrote to the attorney…
By Ann CooperOn May 2, when the Committee to Protect Journalists identified the Philippines as the world’s most murderous country for journalists, the reaction was swift. “Exaggerated,” huffed presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye, who was practiced at dismissing the mounting evidence. He had called an earlier CPJ analysis of the dangers to Philippine journalists “grossly misplaced…
Lessons in Democracy, Pressure, and the PressBy Julia CrawfordZimbabwe and Burundi, countries with very different histories, were among the dozen states in sub-Saharan Africa that held elections this year. In Burundi, the local media played a significant role in informing the public about the democratic process and signaling abuses by those in power. In Zimbabwe,…
All the News That Can’t Be PrintedBy Carlos LauríaGood investigative reporters know more than they can write. The problem in some Latin American countries is that good reporters are barely writing anything. From Brazil to the U.S.-Mexico border, journalists are looking over their shoulders before sitting down at their computers or going on the air.…
As Radio Grows Powerful, Challenges EmergeBy Abi WrightAt home, in the car, and even in the fields, more people across Asia are getting their news on the radio than ever before. Increasingly, this accessible and affordable medium is bringing real-time information to remote areas of Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Afghanistan, and Thailand, parts of which…
Free Expression Takes a Back SeatBy Alex Lupis To gain military footing and access to energy resources in the former Soviet empire, the United States has diverted its attention from human rights and press freedom issues in Eurasia. The U.S. policy of close cooperation with the region’s authoritarian leaders has undermined free and independent reporting in…