Mexican crime reporter Alejandro Martínez Noguez killed while under police protection
Mexico City, August 6, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the killing of Mexican crime reporter Alejandro Martínez Noguez, who was shot while in a car with his bodyguards in the central state of Guanajuato on Sunday. “Mexican authorities must act immediately to find and arrest the killers of Alejandro Martínez Noguez, whose death underscores…
Journalist shot, 2 detained as Venezuela cracks down on election protest coverage
Bogotá, August 2, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Venezuelan authorities to allow the media to report safely on protests over President Nicolás Maduro’s widely disputed claim to have won the country’s July 28 presidential election. Government security forces shot and injured one journalist and arrested six others—two of whom remain in detention—while…
Cyberattackers use easily available tools to target media sites, threaten press freedom
When exiled Russian news website Meduza was hit with a flood of internet traffic in mid-April, it set off alarm bells among the staff as the deluge blocked publishing for more than four hours and briefly rendered the site inaccessible for some readers. It was the largest distributed denial of service attack (DDoS) attack in…
Two years behind bars: CPJ calls for José Rubén Zamora’s immediate release
São Paulo, July 29, 2024—Marking the second anniversary of Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora’s detention, the Committee to Protect Journalists renews its calls for President Bernardo Arévalo’s administration to free Zamora without further delay. “For two years now, José Rubén Zamora has been behind bars in horrific conditions, despite a court order for a retrial,”…
Haitian press face ‘existential crisis’ with no end to gang violence
Le Nouvelliste, Haiti’s oldest independent daily newspaper, has been around for 126 years, and the outlet’s owners are proud to have maintained its operations through the country’s intensifying challenges — from foreign occupation and devastating earthquakes to coups. But now Le Nouvelliste’s survival — and that of more independent media outlets in the country —…
CPJ, partners call on Biden to raise press freedom issues with Netanyahu
The Committee to Protect Journalists and nine other rights groups sent a letter Monday calling on U.S. President Joe Biden to press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on journalist killings and media access in Gaza. The letter urged Biden to ensure that Netanyahu takes steps to facilitate press freedom and journalist safety in Israel and…
US-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva sentenced to 6½ years in secret trial
New York, July 22, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns Friday’s sentencing of U.S.-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva to 6½ years in prison on charges of spreading “fake” news about the Russian army. “Russia’s appalling assault on the media continues to escalate with the secret sentencing of Alsu Kurmasheva,” said CPJ Director of Advocacy and Communications Gypsy…
In Venezuela, restrictions and self-censorship limit coverage of opposition ahead of election
Antonio Di Giampaolo has hosted his popular radio news program En el Aire, Spanish for “On the Air,” for nearly 40 years. On May 17, Di Giampaolo planned to broadcast an interview with opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González, but executives at the station Éxitos 93.1 FM in the western city of Maracay nixed the plan with no explanation, according to the journalist. “I had…
Urgent appeal to UN says journalist José Rubén Zamora was tortured, should be freed
Mexico City, July 18, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists supports the urgent appeal filed to U.N. officials by an international legal team on behalf of Guatemalan investigative journalist José Rubén Zamora, who the appeal says has been wrongfully imprisoned since 2022 and held in conditions “that amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading…
CPJ calls on US to investigate threats against exiled Cuban journalist
Miami, July 12, 2024—Miami-based Cuban journalist José Jasán Nieves Cárdenas, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he received a threatening text message on June 21 from an unknown number with an Ecuadorian country code, which said, “we know exactly where to find you” and included a photo and video of a car driving past…