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: October edition
CPJ, Reuters, Amal Clooney address press freedom violations at the U.N. CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon addressed a panel event, entitled “Press Behind Bars,” at the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 28. The event–which also featured human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and Stephen Adler, president of Reuters…
CPJ Insider: September 2018 edition
The Boston Globe receives threats after its call for defending a free press In August, The Boston Globe invited newspapers from all over the country to stand up for journalists and the media with editorials. Hundreds of news organizations participated in the initiative, for which CPJ provided a backgrounder on press freedom in the U.S.…
CPJ Insider: August edition
Four journalists, one media worker killed in shooting in Annapolis On June 28, a gunman shot five people to death in the newsroom of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland. Police arrested Jarrod Ramos, an individual described as having a long-standing grudge against the paper, and charged him with five counts of first-degree murder. Days…
CPJ Insider: July 2018 edition
CPJ announces 2018 International Press Freedom Award winners In a 2014 interview with CPJ, Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh said, “I have a right to write. … If they want to arrest me, they can.” Three years later, they did. Vietnamese authorities convicted Quynh–known best by her penname, “Mother Mushroom”–on charges of “propagandizing against…
CPJ’s 2018 International Press Freedom Awards
CPJ’s annual International Press Freedom Awards and benefit dinner honored courageous journalists from around the world on Tuesday, November 20, 2018, in New York City. The dinner was hosted by Bill Whitaker, veteran journalist and “60 Minutes” correspondent. The 2018 dinner chair was Meher Tatna, president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Press Release CPJ’s…
Maria Ressa
CPJ is honored to present its 2018 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award to Rappler editor Maria Ressa. Maria Ressa is the founder, CEO, and executive editor of Rappler, a Philippine news website created in 2012 that is renowned for its critical coverage of President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial policies and actions. Rappler has been targeted by…
Amal Habbani, Sudan
CPJ is honored to present its 2018 International Press Freedom Award to Sudanese journalist Amal Habbani. Amal Khalifa Idris Habbani, a freelance journalist and contributor to the Sudanese news outlet Al-Taghyeer, has worked in Sudan since she began her career in 2008. She is the co-founder of the local independent press freedom group Sudanese Journalists…
Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, Vietnam
CPJ is honored to present its 2018 International Press Freedom Award to Vietnamese journalist Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh. Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, one of Vietnam’s most prominent independent bloggers, is best known by her penname Me Nam or “Mother Mushroom.” She was behind bars until authorities freed her in October 2018 and allowed her to…
Luz Mely Reyes, Venezuela
CPJ is honored to present its 2018 International Press Freedom Award to Venezuelan journalist Luz Mely Reyes. Investigative reporter Luz Mely Reyes has covered politics in her native Venezuela for more than 25 years. Her first day as a reporter coincided with former President Hugo Chávez’s first coup attempt in 1992. Reyes began her journalism…
Anastasiya Stanko, Ukraine
CPJ is honored to present its 2018 International Press Freedom Award to Ukrainian journalist Anastasiya “Nastya” Stanko. Anastasiya Stanko is a Ukrainian journalist and TV presenter and a member of the “Stop censorship” movement, an anti-censorship group made up of journalists and media organizations in Ukraine. In 2013, she co-founded the independent media channel Hromadske,…