CPJ joins letter urging Trump administration to address targeting of journalists at border
Washington, D.C., May 1, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined more than 100 human rights and press freedom groups in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials expressing deep concern over recent actions by the department’s law enforcement agencies–Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement–that threaten the…
Supreme Court could limit FOIA, curtail investigative reporting
It’s been over eight years since Jonathan Ellis, an investigative reporter at the Argus Leader, filed what he thought was a routine Freedom of Information Act request. He wanted five years of reimbursement data from the Agriculture Department (USDA) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)–a program that helps people with low incomes buy food from grocery…
What we need to know about CBP’s searches of journalists at San Diego
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is investigating whether the Customs and Border Protection Agency inappropriately targeted and questioned journalists and activists. The investigation, announced by CBP on March 6, came after NBC 7 obtained documents showing that the border agency compiled a list of individuals, including at least 10 journalists, for additional screening.
Uncertainty and risk for journalists stranded at Venezuelan border
As Venezuela’s political crisis deepens, and the country closes its border with Colombia following violent clashes in late February, CPJ’s emergencies director, María Salazar Ferro traveled to the Colombian border city Cúcuta, with Luisa Isaza, head of protection for the Colombian press freedom group FLIP, and CPJ’s Andes correspondent, John Otis. There, they met with…
Venezuela’s intimidation tactics include arbitrary arrests, deportation
When Venezuelan military officials detained American freelancer Cody Weddle on March 11, the experience was both frightening and bizarre. Weddle said that agents put a hood over his head and pressed him to reveal sources he had never spoken with. They suggested the reporter was a member of the CIA and would be charged with…
NSO Group responds to spyware abuse allegations with spin
Entering the terms “NSO Group,” “journalists,” and “spying” into a Google search from a workstation in New York City recently produced a sponsored search result at the top of the page. The NSO Group manufactures some of the world’s most sophisticated and high-profile spyware, and its sponsored link invites readers to a slick website touting…
Bolsonaro is making Brazilian journalists’ jobs more difficult
First as a candidate and now in his first months as president, Jair Bolsonaro has made his disdain for the media crystal clear. Ministers, supporters, and his family members have followed his lead by no longer offering interviews, attacking and blocking critical reporters on social media, and calling them out as “fake news.”
Maduro’s internet blackout stifles news of Venezuela crisis
One of the world’s biggest news stories on March 4 was the daring return to Venezuela of opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaidó, who faced possible arrest by the authoritarian regime of Nicolás Maduro. But most Venezuelans were unable to follow his homecoming.
Joint letter urges congressional action on Jamal Khashoggi case
The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined 10 human rights and press freedom groups in sending a letter to House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) leadership urging congressional action in the pursuit of justice for murdered Washington Post columnist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi.