Press freedom and the Olympic movement
The guiding document of the Olympic movement is the Olympic Charter, a 105-page compendium of rules and regulations, but also principles and ideals that go far beyond sports. For example, the Olympic Games are intended to foment “respect for universal fundamental ethical principles, non-discrimination, and the educational value of good example.” Under the Charter, host…
‘We are journalists’: Delegation in Turkey to discuss press freedom
Reuters editor-at-large Harry Evans had a question for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: Would he be willing to meet with a delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists and the International Press Institute (IPI) when it visited Turkey?
Open government is unsustainable without a free press
This week, as he takes office as lead chair of the Open Government Partnership, Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto will reaffirm the commitment of the more than 60 countries that make up this multilateral initiative, which seeks to enhance governance, promote citizen participation, and improve governments’ accountability to citizens.
No press freedom without Internet freedom
Four years ago, when CPJ launched its Internet Advocacy program, we were met with lots of encouragement, but also some skepticism. “Why do you need a program to defend the Internet?” one supporter asked. “You don’t have a special program to defend television, or radio, or newspapers.” But the Internet is different. Increasingly, when it…
Egypt’s Shame
This morning a judge in Egypt convicted journalists Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, Peter Greste, and Baher Mohamed of conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood and sentenced them to between seven and 10 years in prison. All three were working for Al-Jazeera when they were arrested six months ago, but have a wide range of professional experience, including…
Meeting commitments in Pakistan
A few days after our CPJ delegation met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and secured commitments to combat threats to journalists in Pakistan, I sat down with reporters from the country’s most restive regions, who described in detail the conditions in which they work.
Cameron must consider UK press freedom’s global example
Each year, members of the Global Coordinating Committee of Press Freedom Organizations gather to discuss threats to journalists around the world and plan action. Usually, we focus on frontline countries where journalists face life and death issues. But as our annual meeting took place in London this year, we couldn’t help but notice the emerging…
Defining success in the fight against impunity
For the second time this year, the U.N. Security Council took up the issue of protection of journalists. In a discussion today sponsored by the French and Guatemalan delegations, and open to NGOs, speaker after speaker and country after country hammered home the same essential facts: The vast majority of journalists murdered around the world…