Classifying media and encryption as a threat is danger to press freedom
The U.K. prides itself on its commitment to free expression, but the latest revelations of surveillance of journalists and calls by Britain’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, to ban secure messaging belie the country’s drift toward a more restrictive environment for the press. The revelations further underscore the threat surveillance by Western democracies poses to journalism,…
Russian journalist beaten in Saratov, second from same site in five months
New York, January 14, 2015–An independent journalist was attacked on Tuesday in the Russian city of Saratov, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the assault and calls on authorities to investigate and to consider journalism a motive in the crime.
German daily firebombed over Charlie Hebdo cartoons
On January 11, 2015, attackers firebombed the offices of the German daily Hamburger Morgenpost, in Hamburg, northern Germany, in apparent retaliation for the tabloid’s reprinting of several cartoons from the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on its front page, according to news reports. The press reported that arsonists threw a firebomb and stones through a…
Charlie Hebdo attack unites France on free expression, but will solidarity hold?
The attack on the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo has sent shock waves through France and beyond. Not only because 12 people have been killed in cold blood and many were wounded in what was the deadliest terrorist attack in France since 1961, when right wingers bombed a train killing 28 people. Not only because,…
Gunmen attack Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo, kill at least 12
Brussels, January 7, 2015–Heavily armed and hooded gunmen attacked the Paris office of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo today, killing at least 12 people and injuring at least 11, in the worst attack on the media since the 2009 Maguindanao massacre in the Philippines.
CPJ condemns murderous attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo
New York, January 7, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today’s attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris. French media reported that hooded gunmen stormed the magazine’s offices, killing at least 12 people and critically wounding at least five. Journalists and police officers were believed to be among the casualties. The gunmen fled.
Belarus adopts restrictive media law amendments, blocks websites
New York, December 23, 2014–The Belarusian parliament adopted amendments to a restrictive media law last week, and President Aleksandr Lukashenko signed them on December 20, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the broad and vaguely worded provisions of the law, which extend restrictions on the traditional press to the…
Slideshow: Journalists killed in 2014
In 2014, at least 60 journalists and 11 media workers were killed in relation to their work, according to CPJ research. Local and international journalists died covering conflicts, including in Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine, while many others were murdered reporting on corruption and organized crime in their own countries. Here, CPJ remembers some of the…
China is world’s worst jailer of the press; global tally second worst on record
More than 200 journalists are imprisoned for their work for the third consecutive year, reflecting a global surge in authoritarianism. China is the world’s worst jailer of journalists in 2014. A CPJ special report by Shazdeh Omari