In Focus

  

The high price journalists paid for LGBTQ+ reporting, and how to protect yourself now

As LGBTQ+ communities celebrate Pride this June, many journalists continue to face an ugly reality: simply reporting on this community can open them up to prosecution, physical attacks, threats, arrest, exile, and even death.  Avijit Roy, a Bangladeshi-born American who blogged about LGBTQ+ rights and free expression, was stabbed to death alongside his wife after…

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100 days on: CPJ urges Bangladesh’s Tarique Rahman to break the cycle of press repression

After 100 days in office, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman must start living up to his election manifesto pledge of protecting press freedom by breaking the cycle of partisan persecution of journalists in Bangladesh, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. Bangladesh has had three governments in under two years: the administration of long-time leader Sheikh Hasina’s…

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President Bola Tinubu waves during his swearing-in ceremony in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on May 29, 2023.

Tracking Tinubu’s tenure: CPJ exposes Nigeria’s media repression reality

In the three years since Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office on May 29, 2023, journalists have been repeatedly arrested, attacked, and harassed — yet, the government has sought to deny this reality. Vice President Kashim Shettima suggested in February that no journalists have been harassed in Nigeria since Tinubu took office, despite extensive…

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Government soldiers patrol a road in Fizi Territory in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo in January 2026.

Drones strike radio station in rebel-held DRC, with threat to kill next time

The eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has joined a growing number of conflicts where drones are being used to target journalists, as two strikes hit a community radio station, followed by calls and messages threatening further attacks over its reporting on militia abuses. The bombing of Radio Tuungane in South Kivu province’s rebel-controlled Minembwe…

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Markwayne Mullin stands listening to U.S. President Donald Trump as he attends his swearing-in as Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 24, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci

How the Trump administration is using immigration authorities to restrict speech 

During President Donald Trump’s second term, immigration authorities under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have increasingly used their powers to curb independent and critical reporting.  Here are four things you need to know about how immigration agencies have participated in restricting press freedom in the United States:   See CPJ’s first-ever travel advisory for journalists entering and…

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Uganda's internal affairs minister David Muhoozi speaks in parliament on the first reading of the Protection of Sovereignty Bill, 2026, on April 15.

Ugandan journalists face up to 20 years in jail under draconian foreign agents bill

Uganda is set to pass a foreign agents bill, whose sweeping provisions could be used to imprison journalists critically reporting on economics, foreign policy, or elections for up to 20 years, limit foreign media funding to about $100,000, and subject newsrooms to intrusive state oversight. The Protection of Sovereignty Bill says it aims to register…

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U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hosts an honor cordon for Indonesia's Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin at the Pentagon, in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 13, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

How the Pentagon is trying to control the narrative

The Defense Department oversees the country’s armed forces and commands a nearly $1 trillion budget in 2026. A departure from longstanding norms and Constitutionally guaranteed media access at the Pentagon carries significant implications for press freedom in the United States as well as for public understanding of the impact of U.S. military spending and actions. Here are five things you need to…

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AFP journalist Abdelmoneim Abu Idris Ali holds his wedding picture as he searches through documents at his home in Khartoum North's Bahri neighbourhood on March 17, 2025, as he returns to visit for the first time since being displaced.

Sudan’s 3 years of war, impunity, and the silencing of the press

As Sudan’s war marks its third anniversary, on April 15, 2026, fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has turned the country into one of the world’s most dangerous and deadliest environments for the press, where reporting the truth comes with the constant risk of imprisonment, disappearance, or death….

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South Sudan's President Salva Kiir Mayardit in Ethiopia in 2025.

South Sudan’s new cybercrime law ramps up threat of jail for journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in South Sudan to urgently reform its new cybercrimes law, which punishes defamation with up to five years in prison, criminalizes speech on overbroad grounds, and fails to protect whistleblowers and public interest reporting. While government officials maintain the law is intended to address online fraud and…

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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks to parliament in Budapest. Ahead of upcoming parliamentary elections, CPJ recommends ways to stem a declining media landscape.

Hungarian elections: CPJ calls on all candidates to commit to 10 key steps to restore press freedom 

Ahead of Hungary’s parliamentary elections on April 12, the Committee to Protect Journalists is calling on all political parties to commit to restoring press freedom, starting with 10 priority issues.  Hungary’s media landscape has declined severely in the last 16 years under the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. His ruling Fidesz party — which faces…

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