Cuba / Americas

New York, May 21, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has learned that imprisoned Cuban journalist Normando Hernández González, who is jailed at Kilo 5 1/2 Prison in western Pinar del Río Province, has started a hunger strike to protest prison conditions. Hernández González, who is serving a 25-year sentence, is one of 29 journalists…

New York, May 7, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the health of imprisoned Cuban journalist Manuel Vázquez Portal, who has been on a hunger strike since April 30 to protest prison conditions. Vázquez Portal, who received one of CPJ’s International Press Freedom Awards in November 2003, is one of 29…

Edited transcript of remarks, 5/5/04 Carnegie Council Conversation (Merrill House, New York City).

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is again marking World Press Freedom Day, Monday, May 3, by naming the World’s Worst Places to Be a Journalist. The list of 10 places represents the full range of current threats to press freedom.

New York, April 7, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) renews its call for the Cuban government to release the 29 independent journalists sentenced to lengthy prison terms last April 7. The detention of political dissidents and journalists-who were accused of being “counterrevolutionaries” at the service of the United States-began on March 18, 2003, during…

CPJ Update March 18, 2004 News from the Committee to Protect Journalists Return to front page | See previous Updates

New York, March 16, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today sent more than 600 appeals—including more than 50 from some of the most renowned journalists in Latin America—to Cuban President Fidel Castro Ruz calling for the release of jailed Cuban journalist Manuel Vázquez Portal, a recipient of CPJ’s 2003 International Press Freedom Award, and…

By Ted KoppelThis is not a good day. As I write, pop star Michael Jackson has been arrested for allegedly engaging in sexual misconduct with a minor. His residence cum theme park, “Neverland,” has been invaded by police, sheriff’s deputies, and a team of forensic specialists. I am not empathizing with Michael Jackson, although this…

By Ann CooperIn real-time images, the war in Iraq splashed across television screens worldwide in March, with thousands of journalists covering the U.S.-led war against Saddam Hussein and his regime. The conflict and its aftermath had a far-reaching impact on the press and its ability to report the news, with the reverberations felt in some…

While violence and repression against the press continued unabated and even increased in some countries, public trust in journalists and the press suffered in much of the Americas, jeopardizing support for reforms of archaic press laws and opening the door for governments to take a more confrontational approach with the media.