Regional court orders Venezuela to reinstate RCTV on the air
New York, September 8, 2015–A recent ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ordering Venezuela to reinstate the broadcasting license of Radio Caracas Television, or RCTV, sets an important precedent for freedom of expression in the hemisphere, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. RCTV has been confined to cable and satellite since being…
CPJ joins call for Canada to help free Al-Jazeera journalist Mohamed Fahmy
The Committee to Protect Journalists has signed a joint letter calling on Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to take immediate action to have jailed Al-Jazeera journalist Mohamed Fahmy deported from Egypt to Canada. CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon and Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour signed the letter to Harper along with…
Firing of critical newspaper editor raises concern in Ecuador
When the Quito daily El Comercio was sold in December to a Latin America media tycoon known for avoiding editorial conflict, press freedom advocates feared the newspaper would soften its coverage of the Ecuadoran government. Those concerns have now increased with last month’s firing of Martín Pallares, one of El Comercio’s most prominent journalists and…
‘Pedro Canché Law’ obscures the real problem in Quintana Roo
Mayan journalist Pedro Canché spent 271 days in prison on charges of sabotage. Authorities alleged Canché organized protests one year ago against rising water bills in the Zona Maya south of Cancún, in Quintana Roo state, where demonstrators stormed the offices of the local waterworks, CPJ research shows.
Criminal defamation thwarts critical reporting in Ayacucho
When Wilfredo Oscorima, the governor of the southern Peruvian state of Ayacucho, was sentenced in June to five years in prison for official misconduct, independent daily La Calle viewed the ruling as vindication for its vigorous investigations into his administration.
Two U.S. journalists killed during live broadcast in Virginia
New York, August 26, 2015–Two journalists affiliated with the Virginia TV station WDBJ7 were killed early today during a live broadcast, according to news reports. Alison Parker, a reporter for the station, and Adam Ward, a photographer, were interviewing a woman about a shopping plaza in Moneta, a small community near Roanoke city, when they…
CPJ welcomes conviction in 2013 murder of Brazilian photographer
São Paulo, August 20, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the conviction and sentencing Wednesday of Alessandro Neves Augusto for the murder of Walgney Assis de Carvalho, a freelance photographer shot dead in Minas Gerais state in 2013, and urges authorities to continue investigating to find the mastermind.
The murder of Mexican photographer Espinosa has touched a nerve
The July 31 murder of Mexican photographer Rubén Espinosa hit the press freedom community really hard. Espinosa, who was found in an apartment with four female victims–all of them shot in the head–had fled the state of Veracruz in June and sought refuge in Mexico City, where he thought he would be safe from threats…
Audio: James Foley on being a freelance war correspondent
In April 2012, Nicole Schilit, research associate in CPJ’s Journalist Assistance program, interviewed James Foley about his experience working as a freelance journalist in conflict zones. The interview took place in New York between reporting trips to Libya and Syria. Foley was murdered in Syria in August 2014.
Two U.S. journalists charged months after being arrested in Ferguson
New York, August 11, 2015–Two U.S. journalists have been charged in Missouri with trespassing and interfering with a police officer nearly a year after they were detained by police in the city of Ferguson, according to news reports. Wesley Lowery, a reporter for The Washington Post, and Ryan J. Reilly, a reporter for the Huffington…