Iraqi authorities shut down internet, detain and assault journalists amid protests
Between July 14 and September 6, 2018, at least seven Iraqi journalists were assaulted or detained while covering protests over government corruption and the lack of basic services in several cities across Iraq, and the offices of two local media outlets were set on fire, according to news reports, the journalists’ employers, the local press…
CPJ Insider: August edition
Four journalists, one media worker killed in shooting in Annapolis On June 28, a gunman shot five people to death in the newsroom of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland. Police arrested Jarrod Ramos, an individual described as having a long-standing grudge against the paper, and charged him with five counts of first-degree murder. Days…
Maria Ressa
CPJ is honored to present its 2018 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award to Rappler editor Maria Ressa. Maria Ressa is the founder, CEO, and executive editor of Rappler, a Philippine news website created in 2012 that is renowned for its critical coverage of President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial policies and actions. Rappler has been targeted by…
Luz Mely Reyes, Venezuela
CPJ is honored to present its 2018 International Press Freedom Award to Venezuelan journalist Luz Mely Reyes. Investigative reporter Luz Mely Reyes has covered politics in her native Venezuela for more than 25 years. Her first day as a reporter coincided with former President Hugo Chávez’s first coup attempt in 1992. Reyes began her journalism…
Pakistan releases journalist on bail
New York, March 12, 2018 –The Committee to Protect Journalists today welcomes the release on bail of Pakistani journalist Hafiz Husnain Raza and calls on Pakistani authorities to drop all remaining charges against him. Authorities released Raza from prison on March 10 after an Anti-Terrorism Court in Punjab province acquitted the journalist on eight charges…
CPJ denied ECOSOC consultative status after vote in UN NGO Committee
New York. May 26, 2016–The NGO Committee of the United Nations voted today to deny the Committee to Protect Journalists consultative status with the Economic Social Council (ECOSOC). Without such status, CPJ is unable to access U.N. bodies and processes, notably the Human Rights Council in Geneva, where accredited NGOs can deliver a counter-narrative to…
CPJ Newsletter: March edition
Landmark conviction in 2000 attack on Colombian journalist A Colombian court on February 26 convicted a former paramilitary fighter in the kidnapping and torture of Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya and sentenced him to 11 years in prison. The fighter, Alejandro Cárdenas Orozco, was also ordered to pay a fine of around US$17,500.
Broken promises
How Kenya is failing to uphold its commitment to a free press Kenya’s constitution guarantees freedom of the media, but President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee coalition has introduced several bills that undermine rather than enforce that principle. Journalists are vulnerable to legal harassment, threats, or attack, while news outlets are manipulated by advertisers or politician-owners. The…
Journalists overcome obstacles through crowdfunding and determination
During South Africa’s Boer War, at the turn of the 20th century, a determined news organization relocated reporters, copy editors, and printing presses to the front line to ensure accurate reporting. In the Warsaw Ghetto, during World War II, a literal underground press, established to counter Nazi propaganda, required the nightly movement of cumbersome printing…