Q&A: NYT’s Lynsey Addario on Libya sexual assault
New York Times photographer Lynsey Addario is speaking publicly about sexual aggression she experienced while detained in Libya last month by forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi. Addario was held for six days with Times colleagues Anthony Shadid, Stephen Farrell, and Tyler Hicks, all of whom were subjected to physical abuse. In this interview with CPJ,…
Hugo Chávez, free expression prize winner
Just as the awardee himself anticipated (in his subconscious, after all, he is no idiot), this “freedom of expression award” stirred up disapproval and indignation across the board. Notwithstanding, no one should question the decision of Argentina’s University of La Plata. If anyone has freedom of expression in Venezuela, it’s the prize-winner: He talks and…
Taking risks to tell the story: NYT journalists discuss Libya
On March 15, four New York Times journalists were detained in Libya while crossing a checkpoint after they entered the country without visas. They were released six days later. The four–photojournalists Lynsey Addario and Tyler Hicks, and reporters Anthony Shadid and Stephen Farrell–came to Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism on Thursday for what will…
Remembering South Sudan’s pioneer female reporter
When The Juba Post’s star reporter, Apollonia Mathia, told me that so-called “tong tong” rebels had attacked again near Gumba, in southern Sudan, I looked at her warily. “Let me get the camera I’ll check it out,” she said. Apollonia planned to hop on our rickety motorbike to cover a story about the infamous Ugandan…
Sexual assault: What tips exist for journalists
Last week, I spoke on a CBC program called “The Current” about journalists and sexual assault. Another panelist on the show, Columbia University professor Judith Matloff, noted there are some published lists of tips for female journalists that could be useful in dangerous situations. Here are a few:
Cameroon soccer star Samuel Eto’o lashes out at reporter
Journalists: Beware of questioning the performance of Cameroonian international soccer superstar Samuel Eto’o on the field. The act could result in a head butt–as reporter Philippe Boney experienced in 2008–or in rough words, as a Senegalese reporter experienced in a postgame press conference on Saturday.
A raid raises deeper press concerns in Czech Republic
When it comes to press freedom offenders, the Czech Republic is not among the countries that come to mind. So what happened to the main national television channel on March 11 left many flabbergasted. I arrived in Prague that day with a group of New York University graduate students to participate in a weeklong series…
In China, a state of denial on detentions, abuse
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Jiang Yu, today denied having heard of Sydney-based Chinese author and blogger Yang Hengjun, according to The Associated Press. We reported yesterday that Yang was missing, presumed to be the latest high-profile writer to fall victim to the government’s aggressive roundup of critics who might respond to online calls for a…
At NYU, South Africa’s Motlanthe defends press policies
On Monday, in a public lecture at New York University, South African Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe described as irreversible the democratic gains made since the end of apartheid, including the advancement of press freedom. “We have a constitution which guarantees basic human rights such as freedom of association, freedom of the press, and the independent…