2020
‘They saved my life.’
When two shells struck his kitchen, a mere 20 feet away from where he stood, Rajaai Bourhan didn’t think much of it–he was living in a war zone in the heart of Syria, after all. Instead, he considered himself lucky: He had survived the bombing, accepting this new reality that shelling here was a part…
CPJ welcomes conviction in murder of Mexican journalist Javier Valdez
Culiacán, February 28, 2020 – The Committee to Protect Journalists today welcomed the conviction of one of the murderers of Mexican journalist Javier Valdez Cárdenas, and urged authorities to bring all the perpetrators, including the mastermind, to justice.
U.S. reclassifies 5 Chinese state media organizations as ‘foreign missions’
On February 18, 2020, the U.S. State Department said in an official press briefing that five Chinese state-funded news agencies–Xinhua News Agency, China Global Television Network, China Radio International, China Daily Distribution Corporation, and Hai Tian Development USA–are controlled by the Chinese government and will be treated as “foreign missions,” a designation typically used for…
Iranian authorities detain journalist Mohammad Mosaed again for social media posts
On February 22, 2020, intelligence agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) arrested and interrogated freelance economic reporter Mohammad Mosaed for several hours over recent social media posts critical of the government and suspended his social media accounts, according to a brief interview he had with the BBC Persian Service a few hours after…
Liberian police assault editor Christopher Walker at soccer tournament
On January 23, 2020, officers of the Liberia National Police assaulted Christopher Walker, the sports editor of the privately owned daily newspaper FrontPage Africa, during the semi-final of a national soccer tournament at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sport Stadium in Monrovia, the capital, according to Walker, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app, local news…