In Venezuela, Tal Cual under pressure but not defeated
Tal Cual, one of the few remaining Venezuelan newspapers critical of the government, is so shorthanded there’s often no receptionist on hand to let people in. Visitors must bang on the front door until someone in the newsroom notices. That can take a while because there are hardly any editors or journalists left.
CPJ joins call for meaningful reform of US surveillance
Mass surveillance and the bulk collection of metadata by the U.S. government pose serious threats to journalists in the U.S. and around the world, which is why the Committee to Protect Journalists today joined a wide coalition of privacy, human rights, technology, and trade groups calling on Congress and the Obama Administration to include certain…
Long silence from Nicaragua’s president as first lady keeps press at arm’s length
It’s been nearly 3,000 days since Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega last held a news conference, according to the opposition newspaper La Prensa. But when journalists complain about the lack of access to Ortega they often direct their ire not at the president but at the first lady, Rosario Murillo.
Investigative journalist Carmen Aristegui fired from Mexican radio station
She exposed government corruption with investigative reporting that made international headlines, helped launch the Mexicoleaks whistleblower website, and was voted second most powerful woman in the country last year by Forbes Mexico, but Carmen Aristegui, one of the country’s most popular radio journalists, has been fired from MVS Radio after demanding that the privately owned…
US ‘no-negotiation’ hostage policy should be changed
Thirty years ago, when I was snatched off the street in Beirut by radical Shiites calling themselves “Islamic Jihad,” the world took my plight and that of other Westerners kidnapped in Lebanon’s long war to heart. During the nearly seven years I was held, countless demonstrations were staged on our behalf by churches, journalists, hometowns…
Reporters covering Nicaragua waterway project obstructed by lack of information
When Nicaragua began preliminary work on an interoceanic waterway designed to handle ships too big for the Panama Canal, some of the foreign correspondents who had flown in to cover the December groundbreaking were left high and dry.
In fight against extremism, press freedom must not be compromised
In an effort to counter extremists and militant groups who use a mix of violence and social media to spread their message, a summit was held in Washington, D.C. this week to discuss how to counter violent extremism. While there is little denying that these groups must be tackled, an approach must be found that…
Video: Bob Simon recounts 1991 capture in Iraq
When I heard the news last week that Bob Simon had died, I immediately thought back to an interview I had done with him in 2010. It was at an event called the “Courage Forum.,” an ideas festival which took place the Museum of Modern Art hosted in New York City. It featured speakers who…
TrollBusters app takes on those seeking to silence women writers
Eight years ago Michelle Ferrier was forced to quit her job as a newspaper columnist and move to a different state after being targeted by racist hate mail. But Ferrier has managed to turn a traumatic experience into an empowering one by inspiring a team of tech-savvy media professionals and entrepreneurs to create TrollBusters, a…