Defending press freedom
CPJ protects and defends journalists all over the world. We shine a spotlight on those who have been silenced, such as Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi; we partner with groups on projects like the Protect Press Freedom campaign; and we evacuate and support journalists, such as those trapped in Syria. In 2019, we helped win the release of at least 81 journalists, including Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who thanked CPJ for our efforts while onstage at our International Press Freedom Awards dinner. (Photo:Reuters/Ann Wang)
CPJ Insider: The crisis in Afghanistan continues
Nearly two months after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, the human rights crisis continues to worsen. Afghan media and their families have become targets as the Taliban has detained some journalists, arrested and shot others, and forced female reporters off the air. CPJ continues to support Afghan journalists. To date, we have helped 46…
CPJ Insider: Crisis in Afghanistan
Since Afghanistan fell under the control of the Taliban, CPJ has been deeply concerned for the safety of hundreds of local journalists and media workers. We have devoted our resources to helping and supporting them, even as some are already being targeted by the Taliban. We continue to urge the United States to ensure the…
CPJ Insider: August 2021 edition
Joel Simon speaks “On the Media” In a segment for WNYC’s “On the Media” on July 23, CPJ’s executive director, Joel Simon, spoke to Brooke Gladstone about how this is the deadliest and most dangerous time to be a journalist that he’s ever seen. “There’s a complete transformation of the information environment,” Simon said. “It’s…
CPJ Insider: July 2021 edition
Jimmy Lai, of Hong Kong’s Apple Daily, to receive CPJ’s 2021 Gwen Ifill award Jimmy Lai, the imprisoned founder of Hong Kong’s Next Digital media company and Apple Daily newspaper, will be honored with CPJ’s 2021 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award, CPJ’s board of directors announced in June. The award recognizes an individual’s extraordinary and…
CPJ Insider: May edition
CPJ, partners meet with U.S. Secretary of State Blinken to discuss press freedom On April 29, CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon and Board Chair Kathleen Carroll, alongside our partner groups, met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss our concerns about press freedom globally. CPJ had requested a meeting late last year when…
CPJ Insider: April edition
CPJ turns 40! On April 3, 1981, three journalists in New York—Michael Massing, Victor Navasky, and Laurie Nadel—filed the certificate of incorporation for a new organization, the Committee to Protect Journalists, which was dedicated to the defense and promotion of the “human and professional rights of journalists around the world.” Forty years later, we remain…
CPJ Insider: March edition
CPJ Insider: March edition CPJ’s Sherif Mansour and his family harassed by Egyptian authorities Egyptian police first came for Sherif’s father when he was seven. They came again—this time for him—when he was 17. Today, Mansour, who serves as CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, lives in the United States, but that has…
CPJ Insider: February 2021 edition
CPJ in 2020 In US, threats to journalists persist after transition of power For months, CPJ’s Emergencies team has been issuing safety advice for journalists covering the U.S. election and election-related protests. When on January 6 pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington, we immediately published a statement urging all people to respect the work…
CPJ Insider: Winter 2020 edition
CPJ urges incoming Biden administration to take specific steps to restore press freedom President Donald Trump’s anti-press rhetoric over the past four years has had a dual effect: It has done extraordinary damage to public trust in the media in the United States, and it has simultaneously emboldened autocrats around the world to embrace his…
CPJ Insider: Press freedom accountability project, journalists freed, and more
Press Freedom Accountability Project On May 26, 2020, the day after George Floyd was killed, two reporters covering a demonstration in Minneapolis were struck by projectiles. Since then, the number of press freedom violations during Black Lives Matter protests has risen dramatically. More than 850 violations have been reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker—which…