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Q&A: RAI journalist Stefania Battistini on covering Italy’s coronavirus outbreak
March 26, 2020 1:23 PM ET
Stefania Battistini, an experienced reporter for Italian public broadcaster RAI, has covered terrorist attacks, earthquakes, and Syria’s civil war for the channel’s news program. Now, she is confronting the biggest challenge of her career: the coronavirus pandemic that is ravaging Lombardy, northern Italy, one of the hardest-hit regions in...
Journalist Afgan Mukhtarli: ‘Azerbaijani prisoners are facing death under coronavirus quarantine’
March 24, 2020 4:48 PM ET
Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli was released from prison on March 17, 2020, after nearly three years in jail, and flown to Berlin, where he was reunited with his wife and daughter. He served half of his six-year sentence on charges that Azerbaijani authorities brought in retaliation for his investigative...
Wife of imprisoned journalist Azimjon Askarov calls for his release as COVID-19 hits Kyrgyzstan
March 23, 2020 3:15 PM ET
On March 11, Khadicha Askarova, the wife of imprisoned journalist Azimjon Askarov, wrote a letter to Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbay Jeenbekov pleading for the journalist’s release....
CPJ joins call for transparency in Olympics and other sport events amid COVID-19
March 23, 2020 2:51 PM ET
The Sport and Rights Alliance, a coalition of non-governmental organizations co-founded by the Committee to Protect Journalists, issued a statement on March 20 calling on global sports organizations to maintain high standards of transparency and press accessibility amid the COVID-19 pandemic as assessments are made around sporting events, including...
Q&A: Covering the coronavirus outbreak in the Orthodox Jewish community
March 23, 2020 1:15 PM ET
Before the coronavirus outbreak, Laura E. Adkins edited opinion pieces for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a syndicated nonprofit wire service that runs articles in Jewish publications. But as the virus has taken root in a number of Jewish communities in the United States and around the world, Adkins, who...
Amid coronavirus pandemic, Iran covers up crucial information and threatens journalists
March 20, 2020 12:53 PM ET
In recent months, the stability of the Iranian government has been threatened by widespread protests in late 2019 and the shooting down of a Ukrainian civilian aircraft in January 2020 amid heightened tensions with the U.S. The latest threat is the coronavirus pandemic, which has hit Iran harder than...
Chechen blogger and government critic Tumso Abdurakhmanov: ‘I am constantly at risk’
March 16, 2020 10:14 AM ET
Tumso Abdurakhmanov, a prominent blogger critical of the Chechen authorities, survived a violent assault in his home in Swedish town of Gävle on February 26, 2020. Two Russian nationals have been arrested in connection with the attack, according to a report by Agence France-Presse. CPJ documented the incident and...
CPJ joins calls on Turkey to lift ad ban on Evrensel daily
March 16, 2020 9:55 AM ET
CPJ joined the International Press Institute, Reporters Without Borders, the Journalists Union of Turkey, the European Federation of Journalists, and 20 other Turkish and international groups in a joint letter today calling for Turkey’s Press Ad Agency, the state regulator of government advertisements in print media, to lift its...