Shazdeh Omari

Shazdeh Omari is CPJ's news editor. Former copy chief for The Village Voice, she has worked as a reporter and editor in the United States and Greece. Omari was born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Karachi, Pakistan, where she learned to read, speak, and write Urdu.

CPJ Insider: September 2019 edition

Putting First Amendment values in the spotlight CPJ has partnered with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and the Los Angeles Times to produce LA Press Freedom Week, five days of programming that will engage the public and the journalistic community in and around Los Angeles in a conversation about today’s challenges to press freedom and…

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CPJ Insider: August 2019 edition

CPJ awardee Zaffar Abbas: The Pakistani government has decided ‘to kill journalism’ Pressure campaigns by press freedom groups are a vital line of defense against a rapidly deteriorating environment for independent media in Pakistan under Prime Minister Imran Khan, said Zaffar Abbas, the editor of Dawn and CPJ’s 2019 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award winner,…

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CPJ Insider: July edition

CPJ summit spotlights journalist murders, press freedom climate in Mexico CPJ held a summit on press freedom in Mexico on June 18 with an array of local partners that engaged more than 400 journalists, activists, and government officials in frank conversations about how to tackle an epidemic of journalist murders and improve the media climate…

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AP/Scott Applewhite

CPJ Insider: June edition

In Congress, bipartisan condolences for Khashoggi fiancée and calls for action For a moment, polarized politics took a back seat. Democratic and Republican congressional leaders gathered at an evening reception and lined up to offer condolences to Hatice Cengiz, the fiancée of murdered Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who earlier that day shared gut-wrenching testimony…

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CPJ Gift Acceptance Guidelines

The mission of the Committee to Protect Journalists is to promote press freedom worldwide. As a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, CPJ relies solely on contributions from individuals, corporations, and foundations to carry out its critical work. But gifts to CPJ must be consonant with the organization’s stated mission, purposes, and priorities. CPJ may decline gifts, however…

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CPJ Insider: May edition

CPJ celebrates World Press Freedom Day Thank you to all of you who donated to CPJ on World Press Freedom Day! We certainly couldn’t do it without you. Your support has helped CPJ win convictions in journalist murders and the release of hundreds of journalists worldwide, including, just today, the two Reuters journalists who have…

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Our Plan

Summary of CPJ’s 2019-2021 Strategic Plan In 2018, CPJ established a 2019-2021 Strategic Plan, which will help us confront grave threats to press freedom while ensuring we can adapt to a rapidly changing media environment. The plan reflects input from CPJ’s staff, board of directors, and global network of correspondents, as well as from journalists,…

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CPJ Insider: February 2019 edition

CPJ joins event at U.S. Capitol marking 100 days since Khashoggi murder The Committee to Protect Journalists spoke alongside policymakers and press freedom advocates at a bipartisan event at the U.S. Capitol on January 10, hosted by Representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Steven Chabot (R-OH), and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA). The event marked 100 days…

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CPJ Insider: 2018 Year-End Edition

CPJ believes that all journalists should be able to report freely and safely without any fear of harassment or retaliation. That is why we do what we do. Yet our work is made possible only with your support. So, as we look back today on some highlights of 2018, we thank you for standing with…

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CPJ Insider: December 2018 edition

CPJ’s 2018 awardee Maria Ressa under increasing threat Days before Maria Ressa came to New York to accept CPJ’s 2018 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award, the Philippine government announced that it planned to indict her and the news website she founded, Rappler, for tax evasion and failure to file tax returns.

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