2012

  
Visitors wait for Salman Rushdie's video conference at the Jaipur Literature Festival, which was called off after Muslim groups protested. (AP/Manish Swarup)

India’s challenge: Intolerance vs. intellectual freedom

Because of criticism from Hindu fundamentalists, the showing of a documentary by filmmaker Sanjay Kak at the Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce in Pune has been indefinitely postponed. The conservative student organization Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parisha protested Kak’s film, “Jashn-e-Azadi” (How we celebrate freedom), which is critical of the Indian army’s role in Kashmir.…

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Hrant Dink’s Voice

A murder that spawned a movement, the five-year anniversary of Hrant Dink’s high profile assassination drew huge crowds in Turkey to protest the judiciary’s decision to dismiss charges of conspiracy to silence one of the nation’s most outspoken critics. In this New Yorker article CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney describes the current backslide of press freedom in Turkey and the spectre…

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For Turkish Journalists, Arrest is a Real Danger

In a rapidly changing Middle East, Turkey is increasingly being looked to by Arab neighbors as an example of what a post Arab-Spring society could look like. However, despite progressive, democratic, and secular institutions, the Turkish government maintains a dim view on press freedom. CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon goes on the record to denounce Turkey as…

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Photojournalists raise photos of José Luis Cabezas as thousands gathered in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, February 25, 1997, to protest Cabezas' murder the previous month. (AP/Daniel Muzio)

Cabezas’ convicted killers are free, 15 years after murder

It was a cold winter morning more than 15 years ago. As part of my daily routine as a foreign correspondent, I opened my laptop to read the Argentine papers. I was shocked by a headline: my colleague José Luis Cabezas, a photographer for the newsweekly magazine Noticias, had been murdered. His bullet-ridden body was…

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President Rafael Correa's government has passed reforms that could inhibit the ability of the press to report on elections. (Reuters/Guillermo Granja)

In Ecuador, reforms restrict election coverage for media

New York, January 31, 2012–Reforms to Ecuador’s electoral law that will take effect on February 4 could hamper the ability of the country’s journalists to cover political campaigns and elections, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Editors from both these newspapers have been convicted on charges that include defamation. (Hirondelle)

Two editors given jail terms in Central African Republic

New York, January 31, 2012–The convictions of two journalists in the Central African Republic over their critical coverage of a top official constitute political censorship, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

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Dominican Republic: Journalist given six months in jail

New York, January 31, 2012–The six-month jail sentence of Dominican journalist Johnny Alberto Salazar, who was convicted of defaming a local lawyer on January 18, should be revoked on appeal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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The sky over Beijing, as it turns out, isn't quite as blue as the government long claimed. (Reuters/David Gray)

Chinese press has impact, against the odds

In China, state control over the media hasn’t become more lax in recent years. Each year brings a new excuse for Communist Party censors to tighten the screws. The year of the rabbit brought the Arab Spring, and fears of a Jasmine Revolution. The year of the dragon brings a major political transition. 

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Can an Indian cartoonist be barred from mocking the state?

The case of a cartoonist charged with treason and offending India’s national sentiments reflects a growing debate over what constitutes freedom of expression in India. His accusers argue that while it is permissible to make fun of politicians, you cannot make fun of the state. Not everyone agrees.

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Mexican writer Eduardo Lizalde speaks out at a PEN International event. (Reuters/Henry Romero)

In Mexico mission, PEN speaks for a silenced press

The leading American author Russell Banks set the tone on Sunday as he stood among international writers and their local colleagues in Mexico City: “A nation’s journalists and writers, like its poets and story-tellers, are the eyes, ears, and mouths of the people. When journalists cannot freely speak of what they see and hear of…

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