Features & Analysis

  
Egyptian protesters tear down a cement wall blocking them from the parliament and cabinet buildings in Cairo on Thursday. (AP/Hussein Tallal)

Two years on, Mubarak’s tactics still haunt Egypt media

On the second anniversary of Egypt’s January 25 revolution, Hosni Mubarak’s footprints are still present in many areas of the public sphere–and media are no exception. President Mohamed Morsi needs to cease using Mubarak-era tactics of silencing his critics with criminal charges such as defamation. 

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The Baba Amr district of Homs in March 2011. (AFP/Shaam News Network)

Preparation helps freelancers survive, thrive

When the story is so important but the risks are so high, journalists must keep safety at the forefront of their thinking. That’s especially true for freelancers who often do not have the support of a large news organization. Preparation, peer networking, and smart planning can help improve the odds of not only surviving hostile…

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In Sri Lanka, justice for Eknelygoda is a waiting game

Three years ago, on January 24, 2010, columnist and cartoonist Prageeth Eknelygoda vanished on his way to work to cover the final campaigning in Sri Lanka’s bitterly contested presidential election. He has not been heard from since. The pro-opposition website he worked for, Lanka eNews, has been repeatedly attacked, its offices hit with arson, its staff…

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President Barack Obama receives the oath of office on Monday. His legacy on transparency is still open to debate. (AP/Carolyn Kaster)

New term to settle Obama legacy on leaks, whistleblowers

As pundits debate how Barack Obama will tackle guns, climate change, immigration, and the debt ceiling in his newly inaugurated second term, press freedom advocates are left questioning how the U.S. president will handle another, no-less-controversial issue: the treatment of whistleblowers and officials who leak information to the media.

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Some diplomats view Turkey's reaction to criticism of its press freedom record under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as excessively defensive. (Reuters/Joe Penney)

Press freedom: Barometer of the Turkish model

With Turkey recently in the spotlight because of its press freedom record–including dishonorable distinction as the world’s worst jailer of journalists–many international observers wonder how Ankara will overcome its image crisis and whether it will choose to resolutely base its broad strategic ambitions on the respect of global standards of press freedom. A new report…

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Jailed Tibetan filmmaker shifted to better conditions

Some news which appears to be good from China, and some that isn’t: Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen has been moved to a women’s prison where conditions are not as harsh, according to his friends and associates at the Switzerland based group Filming for Tibet. They say that Wangchen has been transferred to the Qinghai Provincial…

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CPJ

Talking international law and conflict journalists

What is the humanitarian function of journalism in wartime? How does international humanitarian law protect journalists? Why is impunity the most important challenge facing journalists working in conflict zones?

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Hassan Ruvakuki (IWACU)

Burundi journalists march to support Ruvakuki

At 8 o’clock Tuesday morning roughly 50 Burundian journalists silently marched around the courthouses in the capital, Bujumbura, and the offices of the justice minister, protesting the imprisonment of their colleague, Hassan Ruvakuki. “They sentenced him to three years without following the law,” said Patrick Nduwimana, one of the protest organizers and the interim director…

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A resident stands at the burnt entrance of a building following a series of attacks against journalists in Athens on Friday. (Reuters/John Kolesidis)

Greek journalists targeted from all sides

Greek journalists are on the alert since five small bombs exploded Friday on the doorsteps of the homes of several journalists in Athens. Although the makeshift devices only damaged the buildings’ entrances and no one was hurt, the attacks appear to be warning shots in a tense social context where journalists are increasingly in the…

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Audio slideshow: A look at missing journalist James Foley

James Foley, a U.S. freelance journalist, was abducted in Syria in November. His colleague and friend Nicole Tung, a freelance photographer, spoke to CPJ about her experience working and traveling with Foley. A petition appealing for Foley’s release can be signed here.

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