2010

  
Nigerian police officer stands at scen of an exploded car bomb at Eagle Square in Abuja. (AP)

Abuja Twitterers chronicle #Nigeriaat50 bomb explosions

A few minutes before deadly explosions ripped through Nigeria’s 50th Independence Day celebration in Abuja on Saturday, Twitter user Achonu Stanley wondered about darkening skies over the festivities: “Would the day be marred by rain? It has become cloudy and dark. Sorry for the thousands of people at Eagle Square.”

Read More ›

CPJ in Arabic is now on Facebook

We’re pleased to announce the launch of CPJ’s official Facebook page in Arabic. We hope it will be a valuable tool for those in the Arab world who share our concerns about press freedom.

Read More ›

Creative Commons

Derakhshan case: When keeping quiet does not work

The severity of the nearly 20-year jail sentence handed down to veteran Iranian blogger Hossein Derakhshan, left, has shocked many exiled Iranian journalists and bloggers with whom I’ve spoken. It’s also reinforced their belief that the best way to help jailed colleagues is not through quiet diplomacy but by making a lot of noise.

Read More ›

Umar Cheema challenges Pakistani intelligence officials

I’ve been closely following the aftermath of Umar Cheema’s abduction on September 4 and 5, thanks largely to regular updates from Cheema himself. He messaged Thursday with news of what has happened since I posted about him on September 16.

Read More ›

Pakistani residents stand on their property which is surrounded by flood waters in Sindh province. (AP)

For Pakistani journalists, flood coverage poses challenges

As most of the nation lay paralyzed and submerged in flood water, Pakistani journalists traveled in four-wheel drives and rickety boats to bring tidings from some of the hardest hit areas of the country. The Pakistani Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) compiled a list of journalists directly affected by the flood, many of whom had…

Read More ›

Internet blotter

The International Telecommunications Union starts its plenipotentiary meeting this week. Some worry that some nations will use their position at the ITU to attempt to grab more control over how the Internet works. RSF covers the Burmese DDOS attacks. I’ve heard some really fascinating detective work on the real origins of these attacks – hope…

Read More ›

WordPress: Helping journalists under cyber-attack

Blog hosting site Wordpress.com have just announced a great new feature which is also a simple way that hosting companies can help journalists under attack online. The blogging hosting site now lets you automatically redirect your old Wordpress web address to wherever you move to when you switch blog hosting services. When your readers come…

Read More ›

Mission Journal: Visiting Mikhail Beketov

In Moscow, progress is often followed by heartbreak. So it was on the day after our meeting with Russia’s top investigator, when we hit the wall of Russia’s dysfunctional criminal justice system.

Read More ›

Freelance cameraman slain in Iraq

New York, October 4, 2010–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the killing earlier today of freelance cameraman Tahrir Kadhim Jawad, 27, and expressed concern over the rising trend of fatal attacks on journalists in Iraq.

Read More ›

Soldiers guard the government palace in Quito after a police rebellion. (AP/Patricio Realpe)

Ecuador, facing police revolt, censors news coverage

New York, October 1, 2010–As a police rebellion threw Ecuador into chaos on Thursday, the government of President Rafael Correa ordered local radio and TV stations to interrupt programming and carry state news broadcasts. A dozen reporters were injured covering the police revolt. Today, the Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the government’s censorship of broadcast…

Read More ›