CPJ asks Obama to raise jailed Chinese journalists with Hu
Dear President Obama: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to you in advance of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to the United States in January to urge you to raise press freedom issues during your talks. We ask that you make clear the depth of U.S. concern that China is the world’s leading jailer of journalists.
Death of local reporter in Pakistan must be fully investigated
New York, January 11, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists joins with our colleagues in Pakistan in calling for a full investigation into the killing of Ilyas Nizzar, who was found dead in Pidarak, in the volatile Baluchistan province, in Pakistan’s southwest, on January 5. Nizzar, a general assignment reporter with the Baluch-language magazine Darwanth, had been…
Chinese reporter dies 10 days after being beaten
New York, December 28, 2010–The death of Sun Hongjie, a senior reporter at the Northern Xinjiang Morning Post, must be fully investigated by regional authorities in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and by central authorities in Beijing, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Sun died in a hospital in Kuitun today, 10 days after…
Eknelygoda disappearance devastates Sri Lankan family
Prageeth Eknelygoda has been missing since January 24 of this year. He was a political cartoonist and columnist for Lanka eNews, a website whose editor, Sandaruwan Senadheera, was forced into exile. In Sri Lanka’s highly partisan media climate, Lanka eNews backed the wrong presidential candidate, Sarath Fonseka, who not only lost but was jailed on…
CPJ skeptical of official line on Chinese reporter’s beating
New York, December 22, 2010–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the vicious beating of reporter Sun Hongjie and doubts official reports that the attack occurred because of an online dispute with a social media acquaintance. Sun, a reporter for the Northern Xinjiang Morning Post (known locally at the Beijiang Morning Post) was attacked by a group…
Protecting yourself from denial-of-service attacks
It’s my second link to a report by Hal Roberts (and others at the Berkman Center) in as many days, but I worry that this this detailed document on denial-of-service (DOS) and hacking attacks on independent media and human rights groups might get missed in the holiday season. The news headlines in the last few…
Six stories: Online journalists killed in 2010
This week, CPJ published its year-end analysis of work-related fatalities among journalists. Six of the 42 victims worked online. While you can read the full statistics and our special report elsewhere, I want to highlight the stories of these six journalists who worked on the Web.
Indonesian editor dead under suspicious circumstances
New York, December 17, 2010–The Committee to Protect Journalists joins with Indonesian journalist groups in calling for a full and vigorous investigation into the death of an editor on Kisar, one of the eastern Maluku Islands. Alfrets Mirulewan, chief editor of the Pelangi Weekly, was found with bruises on much of his body at 3…
Movement in Umar Cheema’s case ‘frustratingly slow’
On Wednesday, we identified Pakistan as the country where the most journalists–eight–have been killed for their work in the past year. Six of them were on the job when they were killed in crossfire or a suicide bombing. Two others were assassinated.I’ve been posting reports on one journalist–Umar Cheema–who wasn’t killed, but whose case represents…
How to show support for Liu Xiaobo…in China
Although China continues to censor references to imprisoned writer Liu Xiaobo’s Nobel peace prize in the news and online, some have been finding creative ways to express support for him. An outspoken newspaper published a front-page picture featuring empty chairs on Sunday, in what appears to be a covert reference to the seat left vacant…