By Joel SimonIn August 2008, when the Olympic torch is lit in Beijing, more than 20,000 journalists will be on hand to cover the competition between the world’s greatest athletes. Behind the scenes, another competition will be taking place. If the Chinese government has its way, this one will remain hidden. It will be a…
When Press Freedom and Democracy Are Out of StepBy Tom RhodesBallots may have replaced bullets in much of Africa since the dawn of this new century, but one of the great political ironies for at least part of the continent has been a loss of press freedom following the voting. Leaders in a large swath…
Rewriting the Law to Make Journalism a CrimeBy Nina OgnianovaIn its 17 years on the air, Moscow-based Ekho Moskvy Radio has enjoyed, by Russian standards, extraordinary editorial independence. Nearly alone among Russian broadcasters in its critical approach, the station employs some of the country’s most outspoken journalists, who produce in-depth reporting on the most sensitive…
In a year of internal political wrangling and further emergence on the global stage, Chinese leadership under President Hu Jintao showed a keen awareness of public opinion at home and abroad. But the result was not greater freedom for the press. The administration undertook a clumsy effort to woo the foreign press corps while simultaneously…
New York, January 31, 2008—As part of its ongoing campaign to urge China to adopt reforms promised when the International Olympic Committee awarded the country the 2008 Olympics, CPJ today delivered more than 500 advocacy cards to the Chinese Consulate in New York urging the government to release 29 jailed journalists. The IOC granted China…
New York, January 22, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the one-day closed-door trial of imprisoned journalist Lü Gengsong that took place today in Hangzhou, southeast China, and calls on the Chinese government to release him and all journalists held under vague “national security” laws before the 2008 Olympics.
Dear Prime Minister Brown, The Committee to Protect Journalists, a nonpartisan organization committed to promoting global press freedom, welcomes your visit to China at this crucial time in the run-up to the 2008 Olympics. Your trip provides a unique opportunity to encourage Chinese leaders to meet the pledges they made when they were awarded the Games in 2001 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
JANUARY 4, 2008 Posted January 25, 2008 Zhu Wenna, Faren Zazhi HARASSED/LEGAL ACTION Police and local officials from Xifeng in the northeastern Chinese province of Liaoning traveled nearly 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) to Beijing with a warrant to arrest reporter Zhu Wenna in a defamation case on January 4, according to Reuters and The Washington…