USA / Americas

For data on press freedom violations in the U.S., visit the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a partnership between CPJ and Freedom of the Press Foundation.

Read CPJ’s report on the Biden administration and the press.

  

Journalist’s phone records stolen

New York, November 5, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned that New York Post columnist and Red Herring magazine contributing editor Chris Byron’s phone records have been illegally obtained by individuals seeking access to his journalistic sources. In an October 19 article, the New York Post first reported that Byron’s phone records had…

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CPJ sends letter to Pentagon about detained journalist

Dear Secretary Rumsfeld: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to express concern about the reported detention without charge of Sami Muhieddine Muhammad al-Haj, a 33-year-old assistant cameraman for the Qatar-based satellite television network Al-Jazeera.

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U.S. PUBLISHER AND EDITOR CONVICTED OF CRIMINAL DEFAMATION

New York, July 18, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) strongly condemns yesterday’s verdict convicting a Kansas-based free-circulation monthly, its publisher, and its editor of criminal defamation. Jurors found publisher David W. Carson and editor Ed Powers of The New Observer, as well as Observer Publications Inc., guilty on seven counts of criminal defamation.

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IN U.S. SENATE TESTIMONY, CPJ CALLS FOR U.S. BAN ON RECRUITING JOURNALISTS AS SPIES

Washington, D.C., May 2, 2002—In Senate testimony today, a CPJ representative argued that the U.S. government should never recruit journalists as spies, and that U.S. intelligence operatives should never pose as journalists. Appearing before the Subcommittee on International Operations and Terrorism of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, CPJ Washington representative Frank Smyth underscored the need…

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U.S. judge quashes subpoena against Mexican reporter; other subpoenas still pending

New York, April 2, 2002—CPJ welcomes the recent decision of a U.S. district judge to quash a subpoena served on Dolia Estévez, the Washington, D.C., correspondent for the Mexican daily El Financiero. Estévez had been ordered to hand over material related to a 1999 news article about the Hank family of Mexico, which has been…

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Journalists subpoenaed over reporting on Mexican drug trade

New York, February 20, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed at subpoenas recently served to several Mexican and American journalists. All of them were ordered to hand over material related to 1999 news articles about the Hank family of Mexico, which has been linked to drug trafficking activities. On February 22, a U.S.…

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CPJ asks Pentagon to explain Al-Jazeera bombing

New York, January 31, 2002—In a letter sent today to U.S. defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, CPJ requested information about the circumstances behind the U.S. bombing of the Kabul office of the Al-Jazeera satellite television channel in mid-November. During the early morning hours of November 13, 2001, U.S. aircraft dropped two 500-pound bombs on the…

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VOA journalists under pressure

“ Such a policy is a disservice to VOA’s millions of listeners around the world,” said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper.

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Texas journalist released from jail

New York, January 4, 2002—After a record-breaking detention of more than five months, free-lance writer Vanessa Leggett this morning walked out of the Texas jail where she was held for refusing to turn over research materials about a high-profile murder case to federal prosecutors. Leggett, 33, is currently writing a book about the 1997 murder…

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CPJ concerned about threatening incidents in the U.S.

New York, October 16, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists is monitoring with concern a pattern of threatening incidents involving journalists working in the United States. In recent weeks, several employees of U.S. media companies have been exposed to anthrax. Robert Stevens, a photo editor at The Sun in Boca Raton, Florida, died after inhaling anthrax.…

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