2013
Duping pirates and endangering journalists
It could have been the script for a John Le Carré intrigue. On Saturday October 12, Belgian security agents arrested Mohamed Abdi Hassan, a kingpin of Somali piracy known as “Afweyne” (Big Mouth), and his associate Mohammed M. Aden, nicknamed Tiiceey, a former governor of Himan and Heeb province.
CPJ concerned about Cameron’s Guardian comments
New York, October 16, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron’s statement today in which he urged members of parliament to investigate whether the Guardian had broken the law or damaged national security by publishing the NSA files.
Assailants throw grenades at radio station in Puntland
Nairobi, October 16, 2013–Unidentified assailants threw two grenades at the Galkayo offices of Radio Daljir in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland on Tuesday night, according to news reports and local journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the attack on Radio Daljir, which has been targeted in the past, and calls on authorities to identify…
In Pakistan, one journalist murdered, another attacked
New York, October 15, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Pakistani Minister of Information Pervaiz Rasheed to follow through on a public commitment he made last week to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate attacks against journalists. Since his statement, one journalist was murdered on Friday and another was beaten on Thursday, according to…
Greenwald wants to return to US, but not yet
Glenn Greenwald would like to go home to the United States, at least for a visit. But the Guardian journalist and blogger is afraid to do so. He still has material and unpublished stories from his contacts with fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden that he believes U.S. authorities would love to get their hands on. The…
Africa’s journalists honor jailed editor Woubshet Taye
Journalists and media owners across Africa gave Ethiopian journalist Woubshet Taye a standing ovation in Cape Town on Saturday night at the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards 2013, but he wasn’t there to see it. Instead his wife and son accepted the Free Press Award on his behalf. Part of the citation for the award…
Solidarity in the face of surveillance
One way for journalists to build more secure newsrooms and safer networks would be for more of them to learn and practice digital hygiene and information security. But that’s not enough. We also need journalists to stand together across borders, not just as an industry, but as a community, against government surveillance. The Obama administration,…
CPJ report reflects seriousness of US press freedom gaps
On Thursday CPJ launched its first comprehensive examination of press freedom conditions in the United States. The report, “The Obama Administration and the Press: Leak investigations and surveillance in post-9/11 America,” highlights the growing threat to reporting on national security and similar sensitive government issues. It was written by Leonard Downie, Jr., the former executive…
Committee to Protect Journalists issues scathing report on Obama administration
Following CPJ’s release of its report on the state of press freedom in the United States, Glenn Greenwald wrote in The Guardian that the report “powerfully underscores just how extreme is the threat to press freedom posed by this administration.” Read the full story here.