2009

Yesterday’s arrest of Nadesapillai Vithyatharan in a suburb of Colombo was a continuation of the killing, jailing, harassing, and intimidating of Sri Lankan  journalists–and the feeling is that it if it hadn’t been for the quick response of the international community, Vithyatharan’s situation could have gotten a lot uglier.

“The government has barred independent journalists from travelling to the war zone”–the description of the Sri Lankan conflict has been among the most often-repeated for almost two years. News outlets want the latest pictures of the war in Sri Lanka and its civilian refugees. But displaced civilians who do manage to leave the war zone…

Our alert released yesterday about the landmark decision to convict three Colombian officials in the 2003 murder of radio commentator José Emeterio Rivas is receiving coverage around the world today. The Associated Press has stories in both English and Spanish and the Swedish-language Medie Varlden newspaper has coverage.

The murder of prominent Sri Lankan editor Lasantha Wickramatunga remains in the news with The New York Times running an editorial about him over the weekend. The Daily Times of Pakistan also has coverage of Wickramatunga’s death, which has garnered worldwide attention with the publication of the editor’s final column–it explained why he felt compelled to risk…

Yesterday’s attack on Mexican TV network Televisa is making headlines in the world press today. The Washington Post has coverage of masked gunman threw a grenade at the TV station, allegedly in retaliation for reporting on drug trafficking. The article quotes CPJ’s Carlos Lauria, who said that the “attack in Monterrey is another example of how…