In Pakistan, local news has global, dangerous implications
As CPJ reports today, eight of the 42 journalists killed this year were on the job in Pakistan. It’s accurate to say the Pakistani victims were like most journalists killed worldwide: They were local journalists covering stories in their communities. But with Pakistan’s political and sectarian unrest aggravated by a decade-long war in neighboring Afghanistan,…
An empty chair in Oslo shows China is empty of media ideas
It was more than Liu Xiaobo’s chair that was empty at Thursday’s Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. What was also on display to the world was China’s lack of a new approach to media that goes beyond its decades-old approach of controlling through denial and suppression.
With 145 journalists behind bars, what’s in a number?
Today we released our annual census of imprisoned journalists around the world, citing 145 reporters, editors, and photojournalists behind bars on December 1, an increase of nine from 2009 figures. The tally begs the question, What’s in a number?
Fighting bogus piracy raids, Microsoft issues new licenses
CPJ has documented for several years the use of spurious anti-piracy raids to shut down and intimidate media organizations in Russia and the former Soviet republics. Offices have been shut down, and computers seized. Often, security agents make bogus claims to be representing or acting on behalf of the U.S. software company Microsoft.
Internet Blotter
Wikileaks hit by denial-of-service attack, turns to Amazon hosting… …but Amazon drops the site following pressure from a U.S. senator. Google extends its https encryption to YouTube, making video blocking harder. Censorship of the Net directly related to how authoritarian a regime is, claims a study. Venezuala’s telecom regulator proposes stronger takedown powers over Internet…
CPJ’s Press Freedom Awards remember Maguindanao
November 23 marked both an evening of celebration of the courageous and remembrance of the slain: CPJ’s annual International Press Freedom Awards fell on the exact one-year anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre in the Philippines, the deadliest attack on the press ever recorded in CPJ history.
Marking Maguindanao, events for reflection, justice
Tuesday is the anniversary of the deadliest attack on the press ever recorded by CPJ. On November 23, 2009, 32 journalists and media workers were shot and killed in a massacre of 57 people in Ampatuan, in the southern province of Maguindanao. The victims were part of a convoy accompanying the supporters and relatives of…
How to support injured photojournalist Joao Silva
New York Times photojournalist Joao Silva lost both his legs when he stepped on an anti-personnel mine in Afghanistan on October 23. “Those of you who know João will not be surprised to learn that throughout this ordeal he continued to shoot pictures,” wrote New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller in a memo to…
News with a genuine North Korea dateline
A book named Rimjin-gang–News from Inside North Korea just became available. It’s a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea. The title comes from the Rimjin River (Imjin in English), which forms part of the Demilitarized Zone…
Chinese hackers targeting human rights news sites
Nart Villeneuve has published a detailed summary of recent malware attacks on media and human rights groups who work on Chinese issues. He highlights a disturbing new trend. On Wednesday, Amnesty Hong Kong’s website was repurposed by hackers to infect visitors with a wide variety of nasty malware. The Nobel Prize’s website was also defaced earlier…