Canada / Americas

  
People block train tracks as part of a protest against British Columbia's Coastal GasLink pipeline, in Tyendinaga, Canada, on February 9, 2020. Police recently obstructed and detained journalists covering the protests. (Reuters/Alex Filipe)

Canadian police detain, obstruct journalists covering raid on pipeline protesters

On February 6, 2020, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced that they would begin physically removing protesters, many of whom are members of the indigenous Wet’suwet’en people, from encampments in British Columbia, where they have been demonstrating against the construction of a natural gas pipeline, according to media reports.

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Supporters of the Wet’suwet’en Nation indigenous group, who oppose the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline, protest outside the provincial headquarters of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, on January 16, 2020. In early February, the RCMP prevented journalists from covering the takeover of an indigenous protest camp. (Reuters/Jesse Winter)

CPJ calls on Canadian police to let journalists work freely at indigenous protest sites

New York, February 7, 2020—In response to news reports that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) yesterday obstructed journalists trying to cover police operations at indigenous protest camps in British Columbia, the Committee to Protect Journalists today issued the following statement:

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The offices of the Turtle Island News newspaper are seen after being hit by a truck and set ablaze in Six Nations Territory, Canada, on October 28, 2019. (Turtle Island News)

Arson attack damages indigenous newspaper office in Canada

New York, November 6, 2019 — Authorities in the Six Nations Territory in Canada should conduct a prompt and thorough investigation into an arson attack on the offices of the Turtle Island News newspaper, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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The Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, which hears cases from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, stands in lower Manhattan, New York City. Journalists in the U.S. and Canada say threats of lawsuits can affect every level of the reporting process. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images/AFP)

Legal threats prompt journalists to take creative approaches to investigative stories

When BuzzFeed News reporters Jane Bradley and Katie J.M. Baker began investigating claims of sexual misconduct by self-help guru Tony Robbins in early 2018, they did what any journalist would do, and reached out to people who might know about the allegations.

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A photographer sets a remote camera before Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's appearance at a joint hearing on Capitol Hill in April 2018. Online harassment is perceived as the biggest threat for journalists in the U.S. and Canada, CPJ's safety survey found. (AFP/Brendan Smialowski)

Why newsrooms need a solution to end online harassment of reporters

Stef Schrader was on vacation in Germany last year when spam messages started to flood her inbox. Seeing random emails from Macy’s—and job alerts for the position of “Chief Idiot”—she realized someone had signed her work email up to dozens of email lists.

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A protester uses her phone to film during protests in Charlotte, North Carolina, in September 2016. CPJ's safety survey found 85 percent of respondents believe journalism is becoming a less safe job. (Reuters/Mike Blake)

Why going solo is a risk for female reporters in the US and Canada

In June 2016, an attacker was terrorizing women on a jogging path in Edmonton, Canada. A video journalist at a large Canadian broadcaster was assigned to cover the story on the night shift. Multiple sexual assaults had been reported and the man was still at-large.

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Reporters work during a panel for a television series in Beverly Hills, California, in August 2016. Female and gender non-conforming journalists in the U.S. and Canada say there is a need for greater training on dealing with harassment and threats. (Reuters/Mario Anzuoni)

‘The threats follow us home’: Survey details risks for female journalists in U.S., Canada

Ask any female journalist about harassment or safety while on assignment and they’ll likely have a story to tell.

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A Royal Canadian Mounted Police car is seen in New Brunswick on August 10, 2018. Vice Media was recently compelled by a Canadian court to give a reporter's chat logs to the police. (Reuters/Dan Culberson)

Vice Media compelled to give chat logs to Canadian police

On July 4, 2019, Vice Media exhausted its legal options to resist a demand from Canadian authorities to turn over chat logs between one of its reporters, Ben Makuch, and his source, Farah Shirdon, a Somali-Canadian man who allegedly joined the Islamic State militant group, and gave the logs to police, according to Makuch, who…

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An exclusion zone set up by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Journalists were blocked from covering the police response to a pipeline protest in British Columbia. (APTN/Kathleen Martens)

In Canada, police block media from covering break up of indigenous pipeline protest

New York, January 8, 2019–The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) yesterday blocked reporters from covering a pipeline protest near Houston, British Columbia, where police were due to dismantle camps set up by indigenous activists, according to reports.

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Canada's Supreme Court has ruled Vice Media reporter Ben Makuch must hand over details of communication with a source. (VICE News)

Canada’s Supreme Court rules against Vice Media reporter Ben Makuch

New York, November 30, 2018–The Canadian Supreme Court today upheld a lower court ruling that Vice Media reporter Ben Makuch should hand over his communications with a source. In a 9-0 decision, the court dismissed an appeal from Vice Media Canada Inc. and Makuch that challenged a Royal Canadian Mounted Police order requiring Makuch to…

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