2008

Making news today is yesterday’s release of our year-end analysis of the deadliest countries for journalists. The report found that 41 journalists were killed for their work in 2008, with Iraq named the most deadly for the sixth straight year. The Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse all ran stories outlining the report’s findings yesterday. Today the story is receiving widespread coverage in both the…

Time.com’s “China Blog” has a post today titled “A Dark Time for Reporters in China” that outlines some recent cases of harassment and violence against journalists working in the country and quotes our statistics of journalists imprisoned for their work.

Last month, veteran crime reporter Armando Rodríguez was gunned down in Ciudad Juárez on the Texas border, sparking another round of hand-wringing about the relentless violence that is suffocating critical journalism in Mexico. Rodríguez’s brutal murder sparked coverage in the U.S. media as well, including pieces in The Washington Post and NPR.

Various news outlets had coverage over the weekend of press freedom in Russian in light of last week’s brutal assault on Mikhail Beketov, a Moscow newspaper editor who still remains comatose in a local hospital. The Chicago Tribune as well as the UK-based newspapers The Guardian and The Sunday Herald are running stories about the dangers…

CPJ’s Monica Campbell is interviewed today on NPR’s “People and Places” about the recent murder of crime reporter Armando Rodriguez and the worsening situation for Mexican journalists. She is joined by journalist Arturo Chacon.Visit NPR.org to listen to the report.

Making headlines today across the English and Spanish-language press is the brutal murder of Mexican crime reporter Armando Rodríguez.

Mexico’s special prosecutor for crimes against journalists has responded to CPJ’s October 24 letter expressing concerns about the investigation into the murder of U.S. filmmaker Bradley Will. The prosecutor’s response leaves much unresolved.

Monday, October 27, marks the second anniversary of the killing in Mexico of Bradley Roland Will, a U.S. documentary filmmaker. Will was shot while covering clashes between anti-government protesters and government supporters in the southern state of Oaxaca. The investigation into the killing has become a source of great concern.

The Maria Moors Cabot Prize is one of the greatest honors conferred on journalists covering Latin America. The black tie gala, which took place last Thursday at Columbia University’s majestic Low Library, is like an annual reunion for journalists like me who have worked in the region.

In Mexico, where violence against the press has become an epidemic, a debate is raging about what should be done to confront this terrible problem. Since 2000, 21 journalists have been killed, seven of them in direct reprisal for their work. The record of violence has produced widespread self-censorship, particularly among regional journalists covering drug…