Afghanistan’s intelligence agency emerges as new threat to independent media
On January 19, the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) publicly called on Afghan media to refrain from publishing and broadcasting what it termed “false news and baseless rumors.” The warning amounted to the first public acknowledgement of something that Afghan journalists already knew: a tough new cop was on the beat. The emergence of…
‘Completely unclear’: Mushtaq Ahmed’s lawyer seeks answers on how the Bangladeshi writer died in jail
One year after renowned Bangladeshi writer Mushtaq Ahmed died in jail, the circumstances of his death remain murky. While an investigative committee formed by the Home Ministry claimed he died of “natural causes,” his former lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua believes that Ahmed may have died of health issues that arose after alleged torture. In May 2020, the Rapid Action Battalion,…
The view from Ukraine, through the eyes of local journalists
Updated March 8, 2022 More than two million Ukrainians have fled as Russia continues missile and artillery attacks on Ukraine’s cities. At least one Ukrainian journalist has been killed in the fighting, as the Ukrainian media reports amid rockets, misinformation, and the threat of online attacks. CPJ rounded up some of the most poignant commentary…
CPJ’s Gulnoza Said on fears for journalists as Russia invades Ukraine
After threatening to do so for months, Russian President Vladimir Putin has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a move that U.S. President Joe Biden called “a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering.” Now, Ukraine is bracing for full-scale conflict. Below, Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator,…
CPJ calls on US Justice Department to stop compelling media outlets to register as foreign agents
On February 11, 2022, the Committee to Protect Journalists submitted comments to the United States Department of Justice concerning problems presented by labeling media organizations as “foreign agents” under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The comments were submitted to the Justice Department in response to a public request from the department for feedback on proposed…
Threats, attacks, and insults: Canadian reporters on covering vaccine mandate protests
“Fake news.” “Go home.” “You’re the virus.” These are just a few of the insults that protesters have hurled at Evan Solomon, a reporter at national Canadian broadcaster CTV, and his colleagues as they have covered demonstrations against COVID-19 restrictions in Ottawa. The protests – which began in Canada’s capital in late January to counter…
A jar of soil, a laptop, a handmade black coat: What Afghan journalists took into exile
In the frantic minutes before Naweeda Qayoumi fled her home in Afghanistan last September, she grabbed an empty plastic Vaseline jar and stepped into the garden to scoop a bit of soil from her homeland. She jammed the jar into the backpack she was taking into her unknown future with her husband, journalist Ghazanfar Hassanzada….
Helmets and body armor: How Ukraine’s press corps is prepping for possible war
As world leaders launch diplomatic offensives to try to stave off a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian journalists are preparing to cover a conflict that could take a catastrophic toll on their country. Russia’s amassing of troops at its neighbor’s eastern border follows its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014 — a…
Ukraine editor Olga Rudenko on starting Kyiv Independent as Russia amasses troops on border
Olga Rudenko was half a world away from Ukraine on the day that Ukrainian construction tycoon Adnan Kivan abruptly fired the entire staff of the Kyiv Post, the 26-year-old English-language print-to-digital publication known for its tough-minded, corruption-exposing journalism. Rudenko, then deputy chief editor of the Post and in the United States on a fellowship at…
CPJ joins letter calling for release of journalists, others arbitrarily detained in Cameroon
The Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday, February 3, joined 26 other civil society organizations in calling on President Paul Biya to release all those arbitrarily detained in Cameroon for acts of free expression, including at least four journalists. The open letter, published during the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, notes that the continent’s…