The Best Defense

About This Report

(Scout Tufankjian/CPJ)
(Scout Tufankjian/CPJ)

The lead author of this report is Robert Mahoney, CPJ’s deputy executive director. Mahoney joined CPJ in August 2005 as senior editor and became CPJ’s deputy director in January 2007. Previously, he worked as a reporter, bureau chief, and editor for Reuters, covering politics, economics, and general news around the world. He covered conflict and unrest throughout Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent in the 1980s and later in Africa. As Reuters Jerusalem bureau chief from 1990 to 1997, Mahoney directed coverage of the Palestinian intifada, the Iraqi missile attacks on Israel, the Oslo peace process, and the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. He has taught journalism for the Reuters Foundation in the Middle East and worked as a consultant for Human Rights Watch.

More in This Report
Multimedia
In Print

María Salazar-Ferro, director of CPJ’s Emergencies department since October 2016, made extensive contributions to the report. Salazar-Ferro oversees CPJ’s assistance and safety work worldwide. She joined CPJ in 2005 and has served as coordinator for the Journalist Assistance Program and the Global Campaign Against Impunity, and as senior research associate for the Americas program. Salazar-Ferro has spearheaded international coalitions to support journalists in distress in East Africa and in Syria. Prior to joining CPJ, Salazar-Ferro worked at the United Nations Fund for Population Aid, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, and Inter-Press Services in New York.

The sidebar on information security was written by CPJ Staff Technologist Tom Lowenthal. A strong believer in individual privacy and personal freedom, Lowenthal has worked as project coordinator at the Tor Project and as a technologist on Mozilla’s privacy and public policy team. He is also a freelance journalist, and has written for Ars Technica on security and tech policy.

Colin Pereira, CPJ’s journalist safety specialist, contributed reporting and expertise. Pereira is a director at HP Risk Management, a consultancy assisting companies and media organizations operating in fragile environments. Previously he was head of security for ITN and deputy head of BBC High Risk Team. Jason Stern, CPJ senior research associate for the Middle East and North Africa, contributed additional reporting.

CPJ gratefully acknowledges Frank Smyth, senior adviser for journalist security. Smyth is the founder and executive director of Global Journalist Security and formerly worked as CPJ’s Washington representative.

The Emergencies Response Team and this report were made possible, in part, through the generous support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, VICE Media, Steven and Amy Lipin, and David Remnick and Esther Fein.