Features & Analysis

2020

  

‘The Cartel Project’ investigates crimes against reporters in Mexico

Forbidden Stories—a network of journalists whose mission is to continue the work of reporters who are threatened, censored, or killed—yesterday published a new investigation into the murder of Mexican journalist Regina Martínez. The report, part of five-part series about the killings of reporters in Mexico, lays bare serious flaws in the investigation in a context…

Read More ›

CPJ joins call for new emergency visa regulations to protect journalists fleeing threats

Yesterday, the Committee to Protect Journalists joined a panel marking the launch of a report, “Providing Safe Refuge to Journalists at Risk,” published by the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, and CPJ endorsed the report’s findings and recommendations. The report recommends that countries prioritize the issuance of emergency visas to allow…

Read More ›

A man in military uniform and a coronavirus mask seated in an elaborate chair leans over to talk with a man in a suit and a coronavirus mask in the neighboring chair.

Sudan tightens cybercrime law as army pursues “fake news”

Dura Qambo was on vacation in Egypt in July when a friend called to warn her to stop criticizing the Sudanese army online, she told CPJ. Earlier that day, the army had announced on Facebook that it had appointed a Special Commissioner in May to sue anyone who insults or defames the military on the…

Read More ›

Here’s how Biden can restore US press freedom leadership

In his four years in office, President Trump has made attacking the media a hallmark of his administration. He has called journalists fake news and enemies of the people — but also scum, liars, and bad people. He continues to blame the media for his electoral defeat, accusing journalists of covering his administration unfairly and…

Read More ›

Female journalists covering Mexican feminist protests face harsh police response

Lizbeth Hernández, a freelance journalist based in Mexico City, is documenting a rising women’s protest movement against gender-based violence in the country. According to federal data from the Secretariado Ejecutivo del Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Pública (SESNSP), deadly violence against women reached record heights in 2019; more than 1,000 women were murdered because of their gender, an…

Read More ›

US plans to restrict foreign journalist visas would be chilling, must be scrapped

We hadn’t even finished unpacking our belongings from my assignment in Africa when the phone rang. It was a fellow journalist warning me that the director of Israel’s Government Press Office had just gone on national radio to say he intended to summon me to complain about a story. My wife looked at me anxiously….

Read More ›

Despite convictions, justice for murdered journalists in Mexico remains abstract

Some recent convictions in the cases of journalists murdered in Mexico may give the impression that the state is making significant progress in the fight against impunity. While CPJ has welcomed the convictions as an important step, the outlook for breaking the cycle of impunity and violence in Mexico has grown more dim under President…

Read More ›

Philippines makes premature claim to end of impunity in journalist murders

When the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural classified the 2009 Maguindanao massacre — the deadliest attack on the press ever recorded by CPJ — as “resolved,” Philippine authorities were quick to echo and tout this designation.  Too quick, as it turned out. UNESCO’s then-assistant director-general for communication and information, Moez Chackchouk, made the official…

Read More ›

CPJ, RCFP and other organizations urge DHS to drop proposed visa changes for foreign journalists in U.S.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) and 36 other media organizations yesterday submitted joint comments to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) urging the department to drop or revise proposed changes to I visas, which are granted to members of the foreign media working in the United States….

Read More ›

Conspiracy theories grow in the U.S., creating threats to journalist safety

On the eve of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, conspiracy theories have abounded online amid the global pandemic and a polarized political climate. Journalists covering nearly every beat grapple with misinformation, which is false but may be spread by mistake, as well as disinformation, when falsehoods are shared intentionally.   QAnon has emerged as one…

Read More ›

2020