2011
In Gaza, journalists attacked covering peaceful protests
New York, March 31, 2011–Hamas security forces assaulted and obstructed journalists trying to cover protests in Gaza on Wednesday, according to news reports and CPJ interviews. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the assaults and calls on the authorities in Gaza to end the harassment of journalists reporting from demonstrations.
Ecuadoran president sues critical news daily for defamation
New York, March 31, 2011–The critical Ecuadoran daily El Universo, three of its executives, and its opinion editor could face jail time and hefty fines in a defamation complaint filed by President Rafael Correa last week. Correa should immediately drop the defamation suit and bring the country’s press law into compliance with international standards on…
Diplomatic corps must act to free ailing Sri Lankan journalist
New York, March 31, 2001–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the international diplomatic community in Colombo to help secure the release of Lanka eNews website News Editor Bennet Rupasinghe. According to colleagues in Colombo and international news reports, Rupasinghe was arrested by police after responding to a summons. He was called to give a…
Rash Report: Press under fire, and not just in war zones
On March 30, Star Tribune published an article about how foreign correspondents and local reporters alike are increasingly targeted. The article uses CPJ research and statistics along with a quote by CPJ’s Executive Director Joel Simon to describe the situation in Libya and around the world. Click here for the full story
Australian novelist disappears in China
On March 30, CPJ’s Asia Program Coordinator Bob Dietz is quoted in a Wall Street Journal article about Yang Hengjun, a spy novelist and popular political blogger who disappeared shortly after saying he was being followed at an airport in southern China. Click here for the full story
Reuters journalists under attack in Syria, Libya
New York, March 30, 2011–Reuters said today it was urgently seeking the safe return of two of its veteran journalists in Syria, one of whom was said to be in state custody while the other was reported missing. In Libya, meanwhile, a Reuters correspondent was expelled today without explanation.
Remembering South Sudan’s pioneer female reporter
When The Juba Post’s star reporter, Apollonia Mathia, told me that so-called “tong tong” rebels had attacked again near Gumba, in southern Sudan, I looked at her warily. “Let me get the camera I’ll check it out,” she said. Apollonia planned to hop on our rickety motorbike to cover a story about the infamous Ugandan…
Sexual assault: What tips exist for journalists
Last week, I spoke on a CBC program called “The Current” about journalists and sexual assault. Another panelist on the show, Columbia University professor Judith Matloff, noted there are some published lists of tips for female journalists that could be useful in dangerous situations. Here are a few:
Cameroon soccer star Samuel Eto’o lashes out at reporter
Journalists: Beware of questioning the performance of Cameroonian international soccer superstar Samuel Eto’o on the field. The act could result in a head butt–as reporter Philippe Boney experienced in 2008–or in rough words, as a Senegalese reporter experienced in a postgame press conference on Saturday.
Mainstream journalists also targeted in China crackdown
New York, March 30, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the dismissal of two Guangzhou-based journalists who advocate for political reform amid tightening restrictions on free expression. While several bloggers and activists have disappeared or been detained in the last month after anonymous calls for demonstrations in support of political reform were published…