The Torch is a weekly newsletter from the Committee to Protect Journalists that brings you the latest press freedom and journalist safety news from around the world. Subscribe here.
In the Philippines, the country’s broadcast regulator ordered the ABS-CBN network to stop broadcasting and “cease and desist” operations after its 25-year franchise agreement with Congress expired.
In Colombia, the military carried out extensive monitoring of more than 130 individuals, including local and international journalists, according to a new report by the newsweekly Semana. One of the international journalists profiled was CPJ Andes Correspondent John Otis, who also contributes to The Wall Street Journal and National Public Radio.
This week, CPJ spoke with Tim Bousquet, founder of the Halifax Examiner, who covered the Nova Scotia mass shooting in April. He discussed the challenges that he and his team faced navigating COVID-19 safety precautions while covering the deadliest shooting in Canada’s history.
CPJ also spoke with a journalist in a Rohingya refugee camp about covering the pandemic without access to the internet, and two Brazilian journalists about the daily challenges of informing residents of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas.
Journalism in the time of coronavirus
- YouTube censors independent Nicaraguan news outlets after copyright complaints from companies owned by members of president’s family
- The Mexican government threatened news outlets over their coverage of COVID-19
- Swaziland journalists harassed, threatened with treason charges over reporting on king
- Malaysian journalist faces six years in prison over coronavirus Facebook posts
- Network shutdowns restrict reporting during COVID-19 crisis
- CPJ joined more than 100 civil society organizations in a letter calling on Colombia to strengthen protections for journalists
- Hackers steal information from two journalists covering COVID-19 and corruption in Paraguay
- Turkish journalist Fatih Portakal charged for tweet about president’s speech
Spotlight
Beyond the pandemic
- Radio reporter Rex Cornelio Pepino shot and killed in the Philippines
- Family of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl files to uphold convictions in 2002 murder
- Missing Bangladeshi journalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol arrested after being found near Indian border
What we are reading
- Crackdown on journalists weakens efforts to tackle COVID-19 — Amnesty International
- Arab Reporters During COVID-19 Lockdown: Life On the Edge — Rana Sabbagh, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
- The Facebook Oversight Board: An Experiment in Self-Regulation — Chinmayi Arun, Just Security
- Cameroon: Preliminary Report on Proceedings Against Detained Journalist Samuel Ajekah Abuwe — American Bar Association
- The Squeeze On African Media Freedom— Jeff Conroy-Krutz, Journal of Democracy
- The New York Times Refutes Covid-19 Misinformation in New Ad — Scott Nover, Adweek
- Iran’s Broadcaster: Inauthentic Behavior — Ben Nimmo, C. Shawn Eib, Léa Ronzaud, Rodrigo Ferreira, Thomas Lederer, and Melanie Smith, Graphika
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