2018

  

CPJ calls on Cameroon’s Biya to release critically ill journalist

CPJ calls on Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya, to release critically ill imprisoned journalist Thomas Awah Junior, the Northwest correspondent for privately owned Afrik 2 Radio in Yaoundé and publisher of the monthly Aghem Messenger magazine, on humanitarian grounds.

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Number of journalists murdered in reprisal for reporting nearly doubles

Afghanistan deadliest country for journalists worldwide in 2018 New York, December 19, 2018–At least 53 journalists were killed on the job this year, 34 of whom were targeted for murder in reprisal for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists found in its annual analysis. The numbers, which represent those killed between January 1 and…

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Journalists light candles to mark the first anniversary of the murder of Mexican journalist Miroslava Breach, in March. Crime and politics are dangerous beats for Mexico's journalists. (Reuters/Jose Luis Gonzalez)

In Mexico, ‘narcopolitics’ is a deadly mix for journalists covering crime and politics

It was 3 p.m. on January 13 when Carlos Domínguez Rodríguez stopped at a traffic light in Nuevo Laredo, in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas. Two men approached the car of the well-known newspaper columnist, opened the driver’s door, and stabbed him more than 20 times in front of his family.

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The near deserted newsroom of Caracas daily El Nacional, pictured in October. Like many Venezuelan outlets, several of its journalists are in exile to escape legal action and the deepening economic crisis. (AFP/Federico Parra)

Lawsuits and economic crisis drive Venezuela’s journalists into exile

When Ewald Scharfenberg, the founding editor of the Venezuelan investigative news website Armando.Info, holds editorial meetings, he pulls out his mobile phone. That’s because most of his reporters are in Venezuela while Scharfenberg lives and works in neighboring Colombia.

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Committee to Protect Journalists and First Look Media’s Press Freedom Defense Fund Announce Legal Support to Defend Fearless Journalism

International Center for Journalists and Reporters Without Borders Join Fundraising Campaign with Leading Organizations Fighting for Global Press Freedom New York, December 18, 2018 — The Committee to Protect Journalists and First Look Media’s Press Freedom Defense Fund today announced they are partnering on a fundraising campaign to provide legal support for journalists facing extensive…

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A copy of the last print edition of El Nacional, with a headline that reads 'El Nacional is a warrior and will keep on fighting,' on December 14. The daily is the latest Venezuelan publication forced to run online only because of limited access to newsprint. (AFP/Federico Parra)

Venezuela’s biggest daily, El Nacional, latest casualty of newsprint restrictions

New York, December 17, 2018–Venezuela’s biggest independent daily, El Nacional, printed its last edition on December 14, its editor and owner Miguel Henrique Otero announced. In an interview published in the paper, Otero, who manages the paper from self-imposed exile in Madrid, said that El Nacional would be available online only because of restrictions that…

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A protester raises his fist in front of security forces during a demonstration in Paris on December 15, 2018, to protest rising costs of living and high taxes. Dozens of journalists have been attacked and some injured by both protesters and police. (Zakaria Abdelkafi/AFP)

Police, ‘yellow vest’ protesters both target journalists in France, Belgium

Dozens of journalists covering anti-government protests in France and Belgium in November and December of 2018 suffered attacks by the demonstrators and the police, according to press and social media reports.

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Two Jordanian journalists jailed for 2 days for publication of photomontage

An Amman prosecutor on December 10, 2018, ordered the arrest of Mohammad al-Wakeel, the publisher and editor-in-chief of the news website Al-Wakeel News, and intern editor Ghadir al-Rabihat on charges of inciting sectarian strife after a complaint was filed over an altered image of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” on the site’s Facebook account,…

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A local photographer makes a video of journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro's office the day after it was raided by the national police in Managua, Nicaragua. (REUTERS/Oswaldo Rivas)

Nicaraguan police raid independent news organization, take equipment and documents

Bogotá, December 14, 2018–Nicaraguan police last night broke into one of the country’s few remaining independent news organizations and hauled away documents, computers, and TV cameras, according to news website Confidencial, which is one of the outlets affected, and other news reports.

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Sports blogger Paulo Cezar de Andrade Prado is serving a prison sentence for criminal defamation. (Fernanda D' O Neil Ramos)

CPJ calls on Brazil to end its use of criminal defamation to persecute journalists

New York, December 13, 2018–Brazilian authorities should cease prosecuting journalists for defamation and repeal the country’s outdated criminal defamation laws, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police took Paulo Cezar de Andrade Prado, a blogger known as “Paulinho,” into custody on November 9 to serve a prison sentence for criminal defamation, according to local…

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