IRAQ Iraq was an assignment of unending danger for the hundreds of journalists covering the world’s biggest news story. Journalist murders, deaths in crossfire, abductions, and detentions continued apace, reinforcing Iraq’s distinction as the most dangerous place in the world to work as a journalist and as one of the deadliest conflicts for media in…
UNITED STATES An investigation into the leak of a CIA officer’s identity erupted, with one reporter compelled to testify about his confidential source, another jailed for 85 days before she testified, and a high-level White House aide indicted on federal charges of perjury, false statements, and obstruction of justice. Confidentiality of sources was under attack…
New York, February 1, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a report that two Iraqi broadcast journalists were abducted in western Baghdad today. Journalists Marwan Ghazal and Reem Zaeed, from the privately owned television station Samaria TV, were abducted by gunmen in Baghdad’s Yarmouk district after covering a meeting at the offices of…
New York, January 30, 2006—A U.S. news anchor and a cameraman wounded by a roadside bomb in Iraq were flown to Germany today where doctors described their injuries as very serious. ABC World News Tonight co-anchor Bob Woodruff, 44, and ABC cameraman Doug Vogt, 46, were evacuated to a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany…
New York, January 29, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about ABC World News Tonight co-anchor Bob Woodruff and ABC cameraman Doug Vogt who were seriously wounded in a bomb attack while traveling with the Iraqi army today near Baghdad. The two journalists were embedded with the U.S. military’s 4th Infantry Division accompanying…
New York, January 25, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the United States military today to investigate the killing of an Iraqi television correspondent during clashes between U.S. forces and Sunni rebels in Ramadi. Mahmoud Za’al, 35, a correspondent for the Iraqi television station Baghdad TV was shot in the insurgent stronghold, 70 miles…
New York, January 23, 2006—The U.S. military freed an Iraqi television cameraman on Sunday after holding the journalist without charge for nearly eight months. Samir Mohammed Noor, a freelancer working for Reuters, was released from detention in Camp Bucca in southern Iraq. The military continues to hold without charge at least one journalist in Iraq…
New York, January 19, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes calls by prominent Muslims around the world for the release of U.S. reporter Jill Carroll who faces death at the hands of her Iraqi kidnappers. A brief video aired on Tuesday showing the 28-year-old freelancer in captivity has prompted an outpouring of appeals for her…