After three years of fighting in Iraq and Syria, the militant group Islamic State has been forced out of large swathes of territory. But local journalists and press freedom groups with whom CPJ spoke said that the defeat of Islamic State doesn’t necessarily mean that journalists will be any safer.
At least 42 journalists were killed in the line of duty in 2017, representing the second consecutive decline from record highs early this decade. Fewer journalists died covering Middle East conflicts and the number of journalists murdered in reprisal for reporting eased, except in Mexico. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser
Beirut, December 18, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Iraqi regional authorities to reverse their decision to close the independent TV satellite channel Al-Sharqiya’s Al-Anbar offices, and allow the channel to operate freely in the area.
For the second year in a row, the number of journalists imprisoned for their work hit a historical high, as the U.S. and other Western powers failed to pressure the world’s worst jailers–Turkey, China, and Egypt–into improving the bleak climate for press freedom. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser
New York, October 30, 2017– CPJ today condemned attacks against the Kurdish media in Iraq and called on all parties to refrain from targeting the press as political and military tensions escalate over a Kurdish independence bid. In recent days, attackers stabbed to death a journalist, a mob attacked two TV crews, and Iraq’s media…
Beirut, October 2, 2017–Kurdish regional authorities in northern Iraq should immediately allow Al-Ahad TV correspondent Saif Rida to safely return to Kirkuk province and resume his work as a journalist, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.