Americas

  
Tim Hetherington, center, is the subject of a new documentary. (HBO)

Two years after his death, Hetherington studied, celebrated

Two years ago this week, on the central boulevard of the Western Libyan city of Misurata, freelance photographers Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros were killed by mortar rounds from government forces. Hondros lost consciousness almost immediately. Hetherington bled out in the back of a pick-up truck as he clutched the hand of a Spanish photographer. 

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Journalist threatened after reporting on Veracruz murder

Mexico City, April 17, 2013–The national Mexican magazine Proceso reported Tuesday that it has learned of a plot by officials in the government of Veracruz to harm journalist Jorge Carrasco, who has reported extensively on the murder of the magazine’s correspondent in that state.  The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities to fully investigate…

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Another Vale do Aço journalist gunned down in Brazil

New York, April 15, 2013–Brazilian authorities must bring to justice the assailants involved in the murder of a crime photographer on Sunday night, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Walgney Assis Carvalho was a freelance photographer who contributed to the daily Vale do Aço in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.

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Tibetan blogger Woeser waves from the balcony of her home in Beijing on March 8. She was named an International Woman of Courage by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, but rather than being allowed to accept it, she was placed under house arrest. (Reuters/Petar Kujundzic)

Kerry should press Beijing on press freedom

As John Kerry visits China this weekend in his first trip there as U.S. secretary of state, he should take the opportunity to engage Chinese leaders on their problematic record regarding press freedom. 

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Armed men shoot at TV journalist in Honduras

New York, April 10, 2013–Unidentified gunmen apparently fired upon a Honduran TV journalist whose work had included coverage of a sensitive land conflict, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities to conduct a thorough and effective investigation that leads to arrests in the attack against journalist Fidelina Sandoval, who was…

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CPJ welcomes release of Cuban journalist

New York, April 10, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of Cuban journalist Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias, a reporter with the independent news agency Centro de Información Hablemos Press, who had been imprisoned since September while reporting on an international medical donation to Cuba.

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CPJ

Attacks on Knight Center sites reflect digital dangers

The two websites at the University of Texas at Austin, at first blush, seemed to have been unlikely targets for attack. The Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas and its blog cover news about journalism, press freedom and journalist safety throughout the Western hemisphere, with an emphasis on trends in Latin America. The website…

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Haunted by cancer after Cuba’s Black Spring

As the world welcomes celebrated Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez on her first international tour in a decade, we must also remember journalist Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias, who continues to be confined not only to the island nation, but to a prison cell in Havana Province.

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Foreign Minister of Ecuador Ricardo Patiño speaks about human rights during the Organization of American States general assembly in Washington, D.C., on March 22. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

At OAS, a victory for human rights and free expression

By reaffirming the autonomy and independence of the regional human rights system and rejecting attempts to neutralize the work of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and its special rapporteur for freedom of expression, the Organization of American States (OAS) chose last week to discard proposals that would have made citizens throughout the hemisphere…

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CPJ
Lewis receives a lifetime achievement award in 2009. (CPJ)

Tony Lewis gave CPJ authority, devotion over decades

Back in 1981, when CPJ was being formed and its board of directors assembled, Tony Lewis, who died today at age 85, was one of the first people we approached. As the author of books such as Gideon’s Trumpet, as a widely read columnist for The New York Times, and as an outspoken defender of…

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