Kashmiri journalists describe new government tactics to control the narrative
In April, after Srinagar-based senior journalist Peerzada Ashiq published an article about the families of two militants who wanted to exhume their bodies to perform funeral rites, police in Kashmir launched an investigation and accused him of publishing “fake news.” Ashiq told CPJ that he had sought official comment on multiple channels, but never received…
Chinese journalist Lu Yuyu describes abuse and mistreatment over 4 years in prison
Covering protests in China is a difficult and dangerous task, as Lu Yuyu, the founder of the blog Not News, knows firsthand. Lu ran the outlet with his partner, Li Tingyu, with the goal of evading censorship and publishing information about protests throughout the country. Not News covered demonstrations against land grabs, wage disputes, pollution,…
How will the EU’s Digital Services Act impact journalism?
The European Union is reviewing the legal framework for digital information, goods and services—a process with the potential to change the course of internet history for journalists and everybody else. In June, the European Commission launched public consultations about the upcoming Digital Services Act (DSA), an initiative to review and expand rules established 20 years…
Amicus briefs support CPJ’s appeal in Khashoggi lawsuit
Nearly three dozen media and press freedom organizations, as well as 10 major human rights organizations and experts, have signed on to amicus briefs in support of CPJ’s appeal in its lawsuit seeking documents on whether U.S. intelligence agencies knew of threats to Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi before his murder by the Saudi government….
CPJ joins letter calling on African Union to secure release of Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin’ono
The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined eight other press and human rights groups in sending a letter to Cyril Ramaphosa, the chair of the African Union and the president of South Africa, calling on him to use all means available to secure the release of jailed Zimbabwean reporter Hopewell Chin’ono. Chin’ono, an award-winning investigative…
Journalist Patricia Devlin on working in Northern Ireland: ‘I feel vulnerable and I feel threatened’
Over the past two years, crime and paramilitary and sectarian attacks have risen in Northern Ireland, fueled by economic stagnation, a power vacuum in the regional government, and the fallout from Brexit, according to news reports. In this climate, journalists are also increasingly at risk: freelance reporter Lyra McKee was killed in April 2019, and…
Prospects bleak for recovery of US media presence in China
The slugfest between China and the U.S. over the treatment of media workers in each country appears to have paused. Rather than expel each other’s journalists, as they did a few months ago, each side in early July imposed registration and reporting requirements on those remaining—still many more Chinese in the U.S. than Americans in…
Data journalists describe challenges of reporting on the true toll of COVID-19
How many people worldwide have been infected by the coronavirus, and how many have died as a result? Finding reliable information on the virus’s toll has proven such a challenging task that it is nearly impossible to answer these basic questions, five data journalists from around the world told CPJ in May and June. In…
US, UK, Interpol give Ghana phone hacking tools, raising journalist concerns on safety and confidentiality
In May 2019, senior members of Ghana’s law enforcement posed for photos with the U.S. ambassador to their country at a ceremony in the capital, Accra. Between them they held boxes and bags, gifts from the U.S. government to Ghana which, according to one of the recipients, contained Israeli phone hacking technology. That recipient was…
CPJ joins calls in support of OSCE media freedom representative Harlem Désir
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 28 other press freedom organizations yesterday in a letter expressing support for the renewal of the mandate of Harlem Désir, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Representative on Freedom of the Media. Désir’s mandate is set to expire on July 19; renewing his position for another three…