USA

2019

  
The Dropbox logo is seen in an illustration photo from July 28, 2017. The City of Fullerton, California, says two journalists violated computer crimes laws by accessing files hosted in a Dropbox folder without permission. (Reuters/Thomas White)

Fullerton journalists sued for “hacking” city’s open Dropbox folder

In a complaint filed in the California Superior Court of Orange County on October 24, 2019, the City of Fullerton, California accused a community blog and two contributors of violating anti-hacking laws for accessing confidential files city employees posted online, according to their lawyer Kelly Aviles and court documents reviewed by CPJ. Aviles told CPJ…

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A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer waits for pedestrians entering the United States on April 9, 2018 at the San Ysidro port of entry in California. Warrantless searches of devices belonging to journalists and other travelers at the border violate the U.S. constitution, a Massachusetts district court judge ruled in November. (Getty Images/AFP/Mario Tama)

Q&A: Isma’il Kushkush and Sophia Cope on U.S. court ruling against warrantless border search

Journalists crossing U.S. borders face a particular set of challenges, as CPJ has reported extensively. The U.S. government claims sweeping authority to interrogate travelers and search electronic devices without a warrant under what is known as the “border search exception.” CPJ has called this a chilling prospect for reporters in transit—especially those working with confidential…

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A demonstrator dressed as a whistle protests outside of a London court holding a hearing on the U.S. extradition case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in October 2019. (Reuters/Henry Nicholls)

For the sake of press freedom, Julian Assange must be defended

Nine years ago this month, the Committee to Protect Journalists took a stand on one of the most polarizing figures in journalism. We wrote President Barack Obama and his attorney general, Eric Holder, urging them not to prosecute Julian Assange.

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Freelance journalist Bryan Carmody, left, is seen with his attorney, Thomas Burke, at a panel event held by the Society of Professional Journalists in San Francisco on August 13, 2019. Police raided Carmody's home and office in May while investigating the leak of a report on the death of a San Francisco public defender. (AP/Juliet Williams)

Carmody case shows grave police overreach, say lawyers

Bryan Carmody, a breaking news stringer who frequently worked the police beat in San Francisco, woke on May 10 to the sound of a sledgehammer at the metal gate securing his front door. Law enforcement agents investigating the leak of internal police documents were attempting to discover his source, CPJ reported at the time.

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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 vigil for journalist Lasantha Wickramatunga is seen in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on January 15, 2009. A U.S. court recently dismissed a civil suit against former Secretary of Defense Gotabaya Rajapaksa over his alleged involvement in the killing. (Reuters/Buddhika Weerasinghe)

US court dismisses suit against former Sri Lankan defense secretary over murder of Sri Lankan journalist Wickramatunga

New York, October 22, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists is dismayed by a U.S. District Court’s decision to dismiss a civil lawsuit against former Sri Lankan Secretary of Defense Gotabaya Rajapaksa over his alleged involvement in the 2009 killing of Sri Lankan journalist Lasantha Wickramatunga.

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A vigil for Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, outside Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul on October 25, 2018. Ahead of the first anniversary of the journalist's murder, CPJ continues to call for justice and accountability. (AP/Emrah Gurel)

One year without justice for Washington Post columnist Khashoggi

New York, September 30, 2019—The Committee to Protect Journalists today reiterated its demand to the U.S. and U.N. for transparency and justice for Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and said that it was dismayed by the lack of accountability in the journalist’s murder.

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The Central Intelligence Agency building is seen in Langley, Virginia, on January 21, 2017. CPJ recently filed a brief requesting the U.S. intelligence community release documents relating to the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (AP/Andrew Harnik)

CPJ asks DC District Court to force release of intelligence community Khashoggi files

The Committee to Protect Journalists filed a brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia yesterday asking the court to release documents regarding Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, which the U.S. government claimed in court documents are exempt from Freedom of Information Act requests.

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CPJ issues letter of support for fallen journalists memorial

CPJ writes to Peter May, chairman of the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission, to express support for a Fallen Journalists Memorial located on federal property in Washington, D.C.

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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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2019