CHINA In President Hu Jintao’s fourth year in power, his administration effectively silenced some of the best journalists in China by sidelining independent-minded editors, jailing online critics, and moving to restrict coverage of breaking news. The government drew international criticism for its actions against foreign news agencies and their employees–including convictions of Zhao Yan, a…
COLOMBIA Investigative reporting and in-depth coverage of the civil conflict again fell victim to fear in the country’s most troubled areas, where threats and intimidation forced at least seven provincial journalists to flee their homes. The climate of intimidation is the legacy of years of murderous attacks on journalists. With 39 journalists killed since 1992,…
CUBA Facing intense international interest in President Fidel Castro’s hospitalization and the transfer of power to his brother, the Cuban government severely restricted information about Castro’s illness in the name of state security and selectively blocked foreign journalists’ entry into the country. In a July 31 proclamation aired on Cuban television without advance notice, Castro…
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO The murder of freelance journalist Bapuwa Mwamba in the weeks before historic national elections cast a deep chill over the media, whose members were already subject to frequent attacks and intimidation. Mwamba was the second journalist to be shot to death in his home in eight months. Attacks on the press…
EGYPT The Egyptian Journalists Syndicate mounted a widespread campaign to pressure President Hosni Mubarak to fulfill a February 2004 promise to decriminalize press offenses. More than 20 newspapers went on strike for a day in July as part of the campaign, which many journalists credit with the last-minute deletion of a controversial amendment to the…
ETHIOPIA As it launched cross-border attacks in support of a shaky transitional government in Somalia, Addis Ababa maintained a repressive media climate at home by jailing some journalists, intimidating other reporters, and forcing still others into exile. CPJ’s annual census found 18 journalists jailed for their work in Ethiopia, at least 15 of whom were…
THE GAMBIA The government’s announcement in March that it had foiled a coup plots was followed by a wave of arrests and an unprecedented crackdown on the independent press in the run-up to presidential elections in September. President Yahya Jammeh was declared the winner with 67 percent of the vote, giving him a third term…
GEORGIA Television news, which had rallied support for Georgia’s pro-democracy revolution three years earlier, suffered serious blows from government harassment, business takeovers, and, as many saw it, self-inflicted scandal. President Mikhail Saakashvili’s administration took an aggressive approach in managing television coverage by pressuring and harassing critical TV reporters. Georgia’s largest television company, with holdings that…
HAITI Attacks on Haiti’s press dropped significantly, even as its streets were ravaged by violence—but journalists said the decline was attributable to widespread self-censorship. Haiti’s media continued to operate in a polarized environment, which both skewed and limited coverage of the government and street gangs. René Préval, an agronomist who served as president of Haiti…