2017

There is no way to sugar coat it–this has been a terrible year for press freedom around the world. A record number of journalists are in jail. Violence remains stubbornly high. Political leaders who should be defending press freedom–including U.S. President Donald Trump–are instead vilifying journalists and undermining the role of the media. These challenges…

Speaking out against threats to press freedom in the US Montana Congressman Greg Gianforte, who body slammed a Guardian reporter during his election campaign this year, agreed to meet with CPJ in October. But the meeting–scheduled to last for half an hour–lasted only seven minutes. CPJ barely had enough time to suggest ways for the…

CPJ publishes report on press freedom in Cameroon On September 20, CPJ published a special report, called “Journalists Not Terrorists,” on Cameroon’s use of a broadly worded anti-terror law to arrest and threaten journalists. The legislation was put in place in 2014 as part of an effort to counter attacks by the extremist group Boko…

Press Freedom Tracker continues to document press freedom incidents in the U.S. “I’m really doing this to show you how damned dishonest these people are,” President Trump said during his August rally in Phoenix. “Truly dishonest people in the media and the fake media, they make up stories. … They don’t report the facts.”

CPJ will use Gianforte settlement funds to document press freedom violations in U.S. The $50,000 CPJ received as part of a settlement in June from Montana then Congressman-elect Greg Gianforte will be used to help underwrite a project we are working on in partnership with other organizations including the Freedom of the Press Foundation, based…

Days after Mexican president pledges to combat impunity, local journalist killed On May 4, a CPJ delegation visited Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto as part of a mission to launch a special report, “No Excuse,” which calls on the government to do more to bring those who murder journalists to justice. During the 90-minute meeting,…

CPJ releases Attacks on the Press CPJ launched the 2017 edition of our annual publication Attacks on the Press at two events on April 25. The book, “The New Face of Censorship,” explores the evolution of censorship tactics into sophisticated tools used to control the flow of information around the world. Nearly 500 U.S. and…

Standing in solidarity with the U.S. press In recent months, CPJ has documented charges brought against at least 10 journalists who were covering protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota and Lee County, Iowa. We have consistently called on authorities to drop the charges against the journalists, most recently in a letter sent…

Press freedom in the US–and what CPJ’s doing about it CPJ continues to advocate for journalists and press freedom in the United States. In a February 25 op-ed published in The New York Times titled “Trump is damaging press freedom in the U.S. and abroad,” CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon argued that the U.S. administration’s…