Syria

2016

  

Journalist killings ease from record highs as murders down, combat deaths up

Deadly violence against the media eased in 2016 from recent record levels as the number of journalists singled out for murder declined. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser and Elisabeth Witchel

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Swedish journalist expelled from Syria

New York, December 15, 2016 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Syrian government’s decision to expel Swedish radio journalist Cecilia Uddén from the country today. According to her employer, Radio Sweden, Uddén’s authorized reporting trip to Damascus and Aleppo was forcibly cut short when the government accused her of circulating “false information.”

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How CPJ researches the killing and jailing of journalists

Who is a journalist? In the era of citizen journalism, activist journalism and now “fake” journalism, the question is not academic. The Committee to Protect Journalists has just published its annual census of journalists in prison and next week it will release its survey of killed journalists.

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Damaged buildings are seen in the government-held Aleppo neighborhood of Al-Shaath during a media tour, December 13, 2016. (Reuters/Omar Sanadiki)

CPJ calls on Syrian government to protect journalists in Aleppo

New York, December 13, 2016–The Syrian government and its allies should ensure the safety of journalists in Aleppo, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Pro-government forces have in recent days made major advances on rebel-held territory in the city, threatening journalists and other civilians caught in the siege.

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Turkey’s crackdown propels number of journalists in jail worldwide to record high

At least 81 journalists are imprisoned in Turkey, all of them facing anti-state charges, in the wake of an unprecedented crackdown that has included the shuttering of more than 100 news outlets. The 259 journalists in jail worldwide is the highest number recorded since 1990. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser

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Getting Away With Murder

CPJ’s 2016 Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and the killers go free By Elisabeth Witchel, CPJ Impunity Campaign Consultant Published October 27, 2016. Some of the highest rates of impunity in the murders of journalists can be attributed to killings by Islamist militant groups, CPJ found in its latest Global Impunity…

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Fresh threats to journalists from Islamic State group

New York, June 27, 2016 – Threats made against journalists in a video purportedly showing militants from the Islamic State group murdering five Syrians accused of working with media and nongovernmental organizations underscore the need to protect Syrian and Iraqi journalists fleeing the conflict, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Smoke rises over Aleppo's Saif al-Dawla district in this October 2, 2012, file photo. (Manu Brabo/AP)

Syrian journalists critically injured in bomb attack on home

New York, June 17, 2016 – Independent Syrian journalist Hadi Abdullah and cameraman Khaled Eissa were wounded by an improvised explosive device (IED) that destroyed their house in the Syrian city of Aleppo late Thursday night, according to media reports. Eissa is reported to be in critical condition.

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Syrian journalist in Turkey survives second assassination attempt

Beirut, June 13, 2016 — The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns the attempted assassination of Syrian journalist Ahmed Abd al-Qader in the southeastern Turkish town of Urfa. Sunday’s attack on the journalist was the second in three months.

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Infographic: Islamic State’s assault on the press

When Mosul fell to Islamic State on June, 10, 2014, it sparked one of the biggest attacks on press freedom in recent times. Newspapers were shuttered, TV channels were ransacked, radio stations disappeared from the airwaves, and dozens of journalists vanished. Within days, the militants had a monopoly on information output.

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2016