China detains state-run CGTN anchor and Australian citizen Cheng Lei
Washington, D.C., August 31, 2020 – Chinese authorities have detained Cheng Lei, an anchor for the state-run, English-language China Global Television Network (CGTN) and an Australian citizen, according to news reports and a statement from Australia’s Foreign Ministry. The statement, issued today, said that the Australian government received word of Cheng’s detention on August 14….
Hong Kong denies work permit to editor of independent Hong Kong Free Press
Taipei, August 27, 2020 – The Hong Kong Immigration Department has denied a work visa to an editor of Hong Kong Free Press, the outlet said today in a statement that CPJ has seen. “Denial of a work visa to a thriving local news operation bashes the most basic promise of press freedom given repeatedly…
Tech platforms struggle to label state-controlled media
Twitter announced last week that it would start labeling some accounts run by media outlets and their top editors as “state-affiliated,” a descriptor intended to improve transparency about the source of information being shared on the platform. Since disinformation became a flash point in the debate over content moderation on social media, distinguishing propaganda from…
Hong Kong journalists struggle to carry on as national security law hits Apple Daily
An unnerving wait for the first impact on journalists of Hong Kong’s new National Security Law came to an abrupt end early yesterday when police arrested Next Digital founder and chair Jimmy Lai, along with four company executives and his two sons, while sending more than a hundred police officers on a raid of Apple…
Hong Kong police raid Apple Daily newsroom, arrest founder Jimmy Lai, his sons, and 4 executives
Taipei, August 10, 2020 — Hong Kong police must immediately release all those arrested in connection to today’s raid on Apple Daily publisher Next Digital, and refrain from filing charges against them, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. This morning, police arrested Jimmy Lai, founder and chair of Next Digital, at his home in…
Hong Kong police arrest Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai under new National Security Law
Washington, D.C., August 9, 2020–Jimmy Lai, founder of Next Digital, which owns the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was arrested early Monday in Hong Kong under Hong Kong’s new National Security Law for alleged collusion with foreign powers, according to a tweet by Next Digital executive Mark Simon and news reports. “The arrest of media tycoon…
Chinese journalist Lu Yuyu describes abuse and mistreatment over 4 years in prison
Covering protests in China is a difficult and dangerous task, as Lu Yuyu, the founder of the blog Not News, knows firsthand. Lu ran the outlet with his partner, Li Tingyu, with the goal of evading censorship and publishing information about protests throughout the country. Not News covered demonstrations against land grabs, wage disputes, pollution,…
Prospects bleak for recovery of US media presence in China
The slugfest between China and the U.S. over the treatment of media workers in each country appears to have paused. Rather than expel each other’s journalists, as they did a few months ago, each side in early July imposed registration and reporting requirements on those remaining—still many more Chinese in the U.S. than Americans in…
Hong Kong denies work permit to New York Times correspondent Chris Buckley
Taipei, July 15, 2020 – In response to the Hong Kong Immigration Department’s denial of New York Times reporter Chris Buckley’s work permit, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “Barring a New York Times journalist from working in Hong Kong violates the fundamental promise of press freedom given repeatedly to the Hong…
Data journalists describe challenges of reporting on the true toll of COVID-19
How many people worldwide have been infected by the coronavirus, and how many have died as a result? Finding reliable information on the virus’s toll has proven such a challenging task that it is nearly impossible to answer these basic questions, five data journalists from around the world told CPJ in May and June. In…