2013

  
Chernovik founder Gadzhimurad Kamalov was killed in December 2011. Investigators have failed to determine the identities of the assailants or the masterminds. (Reuters/Lekai Dmitri)

In Russia, brazen murder of Chernovik founder is unsolved

Gadzhimurad Kamalov, founder of the independent daily Chernovik, was murdered in Makhachkala, capital of Russia’s southern republic of Dagestan, on December 15, 2011. The slaying was brazen, coming on the national Day of Remembrance for journalists killed in the course of their work. The late-evening assault took place outside Chernovik’s newsroom, located on Makhachkala’s Magomed…

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Benin TV director pardoned for offending president

Berthe Cakpossa, director of the private Canal 3 TV, was pardoned by President Boni Yayi on January 31, 2013, two weeks after a court sentenced her to jail and fined her for “offending the head of state,” according to news reports.

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Indian reporter who exposed assault faces new litigation

Indian journalist Naveen Soorinje continues to languish in prison despite last week’s decision by the Karnataka state cabinet to withdraw charges against him. New developments this week are challenging his release. And his continued imprisonment raises a larger question about the role of journalists at the occurrence of a crime.

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Cuban citizens waiting to use the Web stand outside an Internet café in Havana. (AFP)

Eating a cable: Internet access still elusive in Cuba

There is a popular expression in Cuba that is synonymous with difficulty and crisis. When you want to indicate that someone is doing badly economically, it is sufficient to say that he is “eating a cable.” Street humor has identified the act of chewing and swallowing a bundle of wires with scarcity and material want.…

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Red flags in the European Union press freedom debate

The European Union enjoys waving the banner of press freedom overseas. However, it is sometimes at a loss when it has to define its approach to press freedom among its own member states. Last year, the EU tried and failed to convince the Hungarian government to radically amend its highly controversial media law. The conservative…

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The Times reported in January that it had succeeded in expelling hackers from its computer systems. (AFP/Emmanuel Dunand)

Drawing lessons from Chinese attacks on US media

Not every media company is as tempting a target for hackers as The New York Times, The Washington Post, or The Wall Street Journal. Not every company can afford high-priced computer security consultants, either. Is there anything that everyday reporters and their editors can learn about protecting themselves, based on the revelatory details the Times…

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Haroon at CPJ's 2011 award ceremony. (Barbara Nitke)

Remembering Ayesha Haroon, editor who embraced facts

The highly respected Pakistani editor Ayesha Haroon first came to CPJ’s New York office in July 2011, along with her husband, Faisal Bari, and Absar Alam, both of whom work for the Open Society Foundations. We talked about ways to confront the dangerous conditions facing Pakistani journalists. It was a bad year: Seven journalists would…

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Vietnamese blogger released from psychiatric institution

Vietnamese blogger Le Anh Hung was released on February 5, 2013, about 12 days after he was arrested and held against his will in a psychiatric institution in Hanoi, the national capital, according to news reports.

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Embattled Respublika journalists targeted in Kazakhstan

New York, February 6, 2013–Authorities in Kazakhstan should cease harassing the staff of embattled independent newspaper Respublika, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Police in Baku detain a woman who was protesting in solidarity with Ismayilli residents after a riot on January 26. (Reuters/David Mdzinarishvili)

Azerbaijani reporter jailed on mass disorder charges

New York, February 6, 2013–Azerbaijani authorities should drop charges of organizing mass disorder against Tofiq Yaqublu, a columnist for leading opposition daily Yeni Musavat, and immediately release him from jail, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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