SOTA, one of the last independent news outlets in Russia, doubles down on coverage
Since the outset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February, Russia has sought to stamp out independent reporting on the war, prompting journalists to flee and newsrooms to shut down or to self-censor under threat of criminal prosecution. Remarkably, one local outlet has continued to produce robust reporting despite the repressive environment. SOTA, which counts a staff of 40 journalists and support workers,…
Hungarian journalists targeted by spyware have little hope EU can help
Szabolcs Panyi was not even remotely surprised when Amnesty International’s tech team confirmed in 2021 that his cell phone had been infiltrated by Pegasus spyware for much of 2019. Panyi, a journalist covering national security, high-level diplomacy, and corruption for Hungarian investigative outlet Direkt36, had already long factored into his everyday work that his communications…
David Kaye: Here’s what world leaders must do about spyware
In late June, the general counsel of NSO Group, the Israeli company responsible for the deeply intrusive spyware tool, Pegasus, appeared before a committee established by members of the European Parliament (MEPs). Called the PEGA Committee colloquially, the Parliament established it to investigate allegations that EU member states and others have used “Pegasus and equivalent…
Spain is set to reform ‘gag law,’ but press freedom groups are skeptical
In May, Diego Díaz Alonso, editor of Spanish non-profit news outlet Nortes, was surprised to receive a 601 euro (US$611) fine in the mail. The letter claimed that Díaz Alonso had resisted police and obstructed emergency services as they were treating a homeless person lying unconscious in the street in Gijón, in northern Spain, the previous summer….
CPJ joins calls for Turkish regulator to reverse ad ban on Evrensel daily
On August 26, 2022, the Committee to Protect Journalists joined the International Press Institute and 17 Turkish and international groups in a joint statement calling for Turkey’s Press Ad Agency, the state regulator of government advertisements in print media, to reverse its cancellation of advertisements carried by the leftist daily Evrensel. In the statement, the…
CPJ joins call urging Malta to implement recommendations of public inquiry report on Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined eight other press freedom organizations in a joint statement on Friday, July 29, calling on the Maltese government to implement the recommendations put forward in the public inquiry report on investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder and ensure the effective protection of journalists. On the one-year anniversary of the…
CPJ joins statement welcoming Dutch government’s proposed policy changes on journalist safety
On July 1, 2022, the Committee to Protect Journalists joined seven other press freedom organizations in a joint statement welcoming a letter by the Dutch government to Parliament proposing a new policy approach on media freedom and journalist safety. That June 29 letter took into consideration reports and recommendations by domestic and international press and…
Frontline diary: A day in the life of a Ukraine war correspondent
Ruslan Smieshchuk, a reporter for privately owned Ukrainian TV channel Inter, had long dreamed of being a war correspondent when he covered his first conflict, the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, for local Odessa TV channel ATV. Now he hopes that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war will be his last battlefield assignment. “War is a lot of pain and grief,” he told CPJ. The 38-year-old…
CPJ joins letter calling on Romanian authorities to hasten investigation into harassment of journalist Emilia Șercan
In a joint letter addressed to Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă and other government officials on Tuesday, June 28, the Committee to Protect Journalists and seven international press freedom organizations expressed their deep concerns over delays in the investigation into harassment of investigative journalist Emilia Șercan. Since January, Șercan has received threatening emails and social media messages, and…
‘Disastrous for press freedom’: What Russia’s goal of an isolated internet means for journalists
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine presents a danger not only for reporters operating in the war zone. The campaign could also pose a broader threat to press freedoms and other civil liberties if it brings the Kremlin closer to its dream of creating a domestically controlled internet. Russia’s internet regulator, Rozkomnadzor, has long been able to…