Features & Analysis

  

Reporter reflects as Iraq named deadliest for journalists

It has been 14 months since my colleague at The Washington Post Salih Saif Aldin was shot and killed. Time flew by fast and the path for journalists in Iraq is yet to be safe. Shootings, kidnappings, and murder in cold blood have not stopped in my war-torn country. 

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Defending al-Zaidi, but not journalists at home

The now infamous incident of Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi throwing his shoes at President George Bush became primetime news throughout the world. In the Middle East it has been shown on television almost endlessly. 

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Press freedom in the news 12/17/08

China has blocked access to BBC and VOA Chinese Web sites, according to reports released yesterday. The Associated Press is covering the story with two releases today that both quote CPJ’s Bob Dietz, who said in a statement: “It’s clear that China has no intention of fulfilling the hopes it raised when it was awarded the…

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Remembering Deyda Hydara, four years after his murder

I last saw Deyda Hydara alive on December 14, 2004, only two days before his death. To this day, the gunmen who shot dead the Gambia’s best-known journalist as he drove home from work are still at large. The crime remains unsolved.

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Iraqi journalist who threw shoes is detained

During a press conference in Baghdad on Sunday, Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi called President George Bush a dog as he hurled his shoes at him. Though he missed his target, al-Zaidi was immediately tackled to the ground and restrained by plainclothes security personnel.

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Burkina Faso police question Zongo protesters

This morning, police in Burkina Faso summoned four leaders of a march over the weekend that called for a renewed investigation into the unsolved 1998 assassination of investigative journalist Norbert Zongo. Among those questioned was Jean-Claude Meda, the president of the Association of Journalists of Burkina Faso, who told me that he received a call…

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Press freedom in the news 12/15/08

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.

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Norbert Zongo’s murder: No justice after 10 years

Ten years ago on Saturday, the bullet-ridden bodies of investigative journalist Norbert Zongo and three friends were found in Zongo’s burned-out car outside the capital of Burkina Faso.

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Politkovskaya case: 2 trials, 1 court, many questions

About 10 reporters sit on one of two wooden benches in the back of Room No. 4 at the Moscow District Military Court in Moscow. They’re gathered for the trial of three defendants accused of playing a role in the October 2006 murder of Novaya Gazeta special correspondent Anna Politkovskaya. Only they won’t be attending…

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Press freedom in the news 12/11/08

The Lebanon-based Web site Menassat has an article today about the continued detainment of Reuters cameraman Ibrahim Jassam, currently the only known journalist being held by the US military. A local Iraqi court has urged the military to release Jassam, who was arrested on September 2, as there is no evidence against him. 

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