Elisabeth Witchel/CPJ Consultant
Elisabeth Witchel, a CPJ consultant, served for many years as the organization’s journalist assistance coordinator. She also launched CPJ’s Global Campaign Against Impunity.
Two years after Nepal murder, no progress, mission finds
On the evening of March 1, 2010, Arun Singhaniya, owner of Janakpur Today newspaper and Janakpur Today Radio, stepped out of a prayer service during a holy celebration in Janakpur, Nepal’s second largest city. A gunman on a motorcycle shot and killed the news proprietor, making him the second person affiliated with the Janakpur Today…
A month for remembrances, outrage, and action
Three years ago Sunday, an unidentified assailant gunned down veteran crime reporter José Armando Rodríguez Carreón in the driveway of his home as his 8-year-old daughter watched. Amid a climate of violence and impunity in Mexico–where 10 journalists have been slain since 2008 and no killers convicted in any case–it seems unlikely that anyone will…
Annual London ceremony honors fallen journalists
After the din of the day’s student protests died down on Fleet Street, a gathering of a quieter, more somber sort took place. St. Bride’s Church, London’s so-called church of the press, held its annual service this Wednesday to commemorate journalists, photographers, cameramen, and support staff that died in the pursuit of journalism. This year’s…
A personal side to Anna Politkovskaya’s legacy
Internationally renowned for her work, respected for her courage and still mourned by thousands around the world five years after her murder, Anna Politkovsakya has become an iconic symbol in the global human rights struggle. But Sunday night, family, friends, colleagues and others came together to share a more personal picture.
State secrets claim withdrawn in UK hacking probe
London’s Metropolitan Police this week dropped their attempt to leverage the Official Secrets Act to force The Guardian to reveal confidential sources for stories about the phone-hacking scandal that has gripped the UK’s political and media world. The Met’s reversal is welcome, but its unprecedented attempt to invoke espionage laws to force a newspaper to…
Surviving, thriving in exile: Q&A with Dina Yafasova
In September 2001, CPJ received a worrisome call. Uzbek journalist Dina Yafasova had been roughly interrogated by the Uzbek National Security Service, which threatened her with imminent arrest and physical abuse unless she revealed sources and names of articles she wrote for international publications. She left the agency deeply shaken and within days had left…
CPJ’s exiled journalists survey: Behind the numbers
In 2007, my colleague Karen Phillips suggested we do something to mark World Refugee Day. Initially planning to publish a brief statement, I set about reviewing our data for background, checking in with older journalist cases about their current situation and looking broadly for trends to highlight. As the number of cases began counting into…