2008

New York, November 26, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the safety of four journalists who were reported kidnapped today in the port city of Bossasso in Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland.

There is worldwide coverage today of last night’s International Press Freedom Awards ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria in mid-town Manhattan. The event, which honored five journalists for their dedication to the cause of press freedom, was covered by The Associated Press. Hector Maseda Gutierrez, who is still imprisoned in Cuba, could not attend the awards dinner…

New York, November 26, 2008 –The Committee to Protect Journalists honored five journalists with its 2008 International Press Freedom Awards in a ceremony Tuesday night that highlighted journalists imprisoned worldwide. A Zimbabwean media lawyer who has successfully defended numerous journalists facing prison was honored for her lifetime achievements.

Shwan Dawdi, editor-in-chief of the Kirkuk-based newspaper Hawal, sent a letter thanking CPJ for its help in overturning his conviction and one-month prison term. “I would like to express … my thanks and gratitude for your noble and courageous position to defend the freedom of the press and journalists,” Dawdi wrote.

As guests mingled at the Waldorf-Astoria for the CPJ International Press Freedom Awards, the sound of gunfire echoed from a video screen–a stark reminder in an elegant environment of the dangers faced by the world press. Familiar names like NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, famed Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein, and Jim Willse, editor of New Jersey’s Star-Ledger,…

After Judge Yevgeny Zubov overturned a ban on the press attending the trial of three suspects in the murder of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya, we released the following statement…

From his cell in the maximum security Agüica Prison in western Matanzas province, jailed Cuban journalist Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez has written us a letter to accept CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award. In his letter, Maseda Gutiérrez speaks out “for all those who suffer the horror that characterizes despotic and oligarchic government models.” He will be honored on Tuesday. The…

New York, November 24, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists mourns the loss of journalist Jagjit Saikia, who was shot dead in northeastern Indian state of Assam on Saturday.

New York, November 24, 2008–Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo should thoroughly and transparently investigate the killing of a radio reporter on Friday, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Various news outlets had coverage over the weekend of press freedom in Russian in light of last week’s brutal assault on Mikhail Beketov, a Moscow newspaper editor who still remains comatose in a local hospital. The Chicago Tribune as well as the UK-based newspapers The Guardian and The Sunday Herald are running stories about the dangers…