2012

  
The censored November issue of Mail & Guardian. (CPJ)

South African journalists probed over scandal coverage

Johannesburg, July 30, 2012–South African authorities should immediately drop a criminal investigation against three newspaper journalists who have sought to report details on a multi-billion-dollar arms scandal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Fire trucks park outside Sierra Madre. (Reuters/Daniel Becerril)

Mexico’s El Norte attacked for the third time this month

New York, July 30, 2012–Mexican authorities must immediately investigate an arson attack on the offices of a supplement owned by the daily El Norte, the third attack on an El Norte publication this month, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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A screen shot of a July edition of MwanaHalisi.

Tanzanian authorities ban weekly indefinitely

Nairobi, July 30, 2012–The Tanzanian government today banned indefinitely the critical Swahili-language weekly MwanaHalisi, accusing the paper of publishing seditious articles, according to local journalists and a statement by the information ministry.  The ministry claimed that MwanaHalisi’s four July editions contained seditious and false material but did not specify particular articles. Under the 1976 Newspaper Act, Tanzanian…

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Journalist Lydia Cacho, seen here in a 2006 conference, was threatened by unknown persons on Sunday. (Reuters/Henry Romero)

Mexico must investigate threat against Lydia Cacho

New York, July 30, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a death threat made Sunday against Lydia Cacho, the Mexican investigative reporter and author, and calls on federal authorities to launch a thorough investigation.

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Ethiopians still looking for answers on Meles

Since I published a blog last week on the lack of information about the health and whereabouts of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, readers have deluged it with comments (over 175 as of today), reflecting the pent-up interest in the premier’s status and deeply divided views of his leadership.

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Imprisoned blogger’s mother self-immolates in Vietnam

New York, July 30, 2012–The mother of an imprisoned Vietnamese blogger died after setting herself on fire to protest her daughter’s detention on anti-state charges, her family has told international news outlets

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A memorial for Afghan journalist Ahmad Omaid Khpalwak in Kabul. (AFP/Shah Marai)

Time to reassess U.S. military counterinsurgency tactics

One year ago, on July 28, 2011, Ahmad Omaid Khpalwak, 25, was killed by American troops during a brutal close-quarters battle with a Taliban suicide squad backed by gunmen. Khpalwak was one of 22 people killed in the hours-long siege on government buildings that included the governor’s office and police headquarters in Tarin Kot, capital…

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Viewing the London Olympics coverage from China

Chinese propaganda officials must be thrilled that they’re not responsible for the Olympics coverage in the British papers. Back during the Beijing Games, they worked hard to censor unrest and dissatisfaction in the domestic media. Reports of China’s press freedom and human rights abuses were blocked, the kind of information control idiomatically referred to as…

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CPJ
A TV crew reports on the shooting in Colorado from a parking lot across the street. (AFP/Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla)

Stressed out: How should newsrooms handle trauma?

The rampage inside a Colorado movie theater that killed 12 people and injured dozens more is the most recent reminder that a journalist anywhere can face sudden, great emotional stress. Any story involving tragedy–from domestic violence to natural disasters–can inflict an emotional toll on field journalists. The very empathy that makes a journalist a good…

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Reporting truth a high-risk profession

CPJ Deputy Director, Rob Mahoney, testified before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in Washington on worldwide attacks against press freedom this week.  His testimony, which highlighted press freedom violations in Honduras, Russia, and Turkey, also addressed the increasing number of local journalists targeted for their reporting.The Epoch Times reports on Mahoney’s testimony and the testimonies of other…

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