When I received an unexpected call early Monday morning from Saleem Shahzad’s wife, I knew I was in for some bad news.”Saleem has not come home since Sunday evening, when he was on his way to a television studio,” she said. She told me that she then remained as composed as possible until she received…
Here’s a quick toss to a video posted on YouTube by Australian Broadcasting’s reporter Stephen McDonell. He and his crew decided to confront some Chinese security types (not surprisingly they didn’t identify themselves) who had been following them in Wenzhou while reporting in China. The team was covering religion, including underground or “house” churches–those not…
Last Friday’s post, “After bin Laden, a warning to foreign journalists,” generated several responses from Western journalists in Kabul. I also did two lengthy interviews on Monday with the U.S. government-funded broadcaster Voice of America, and fielded questions from several other news outlets.
New York, May 23, 2011–The recent sidelining of an outspoken journalist in Guangzhou and the disappearance on Friday of a Beijing lawyer and activist known for his blog writings are the latest signs of China’s deteriorating press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Pakistani journalist Najam Sethi was in the United States last week to talk about the challenges facing his country at a critical moment. Ever the contrarian, he also sees opportunities. “For the first time the media is challenging the military,” he told an audience of friends and colleagues at CPJ offices in New York. “That’s…
New York, May 20, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists joins with our colleagues in India in condemning the arrest of Tarakant Dwivedi, who writes under the pen name Akela, under India’s Official Secrets Act. According to local media reports, Dwivedi was arrested Tuesday by the Government Railway Police and charged with criminal trespass. He will…
New York May 20, 2011–The Committee to protect Journalists is concerned by reports that a Philippines provincial radio announcer, Jun Albino of Magnum Music and News Radio 99.9 FM in Cagayan de Oro City, has received a text-message death threat.
Security is always risky in Kabul, as it is in the entire Afghanistan-Pakistan theater. But the May 2 U.S. raid into Pakistan and killing of Osama bin Laden has raised the risk of retaliation against international representatives, including journalists.
We write a lot at CPJ about the terrible things that happen to journalists because of their reporting, but we don’t often get a chance to show you what happens to them after they are forced to flee their homes and land abroad. This video, about three such journalists, is worth watching.