Hong Kong police charge 2 reporters with obstruction over coverage of May protests
In November 2020, Hong Kong police criminally charged two journalists over their coverage of protests the previous May, according to news reports. On November 3, police charged student journalist Nelson Tang with “obstructing police” and “resisting arrest,” according to news reports and a statement from the Hong Kong Baptist University Students’ Union Editorial Board, a…
In 2020, U.S. journalists faced unprecedented attacks
As the Committee to Protect Journalists publishes its annual tally of journalists imprisoned around the world, not a single U.S. reporter is behind bars for their work. But that statistic belies the country’s marred press freedom landscape following the summer’s Black Lives Matter protests in which journalists were handcuffed, shoved, and shot at with less-lethal…
Canadian police block reporting on Indigenous land demonstrations
On September 2, 2020, police in Ontario criminally charged Indigenous journalist Karl Dockstader in relation to his reporting on a campaign to oppose a planned housing development in the province’s Haldimand County, he told CPJ by phone. Charges against Dockstader and at least two other Indigenous people who were documenting the campaign were pending in…
Maharashtra police arrest Republic TV anchor Arnab Goswami
New Delhi, November 5, 2020 – The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on authorities in the Indian state of Maharashtra to release Republic TV anchor and editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami after he was arrested and ordered to be held for at least two weeks. Authorities are investigating allegations that Goswami abetted a suicide in May…
Mumbai police open investigation into Republic TV journalists
New Delhi, October 27, 2020 — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Mumbai police to stop trying to intimidate journalists at Republic TV and drop all criminal investigations into the news channel. On October 23, Mumbai police opened an investigation into five members of the privately-held news channel’s editorial team in relation to…
Daily Sangram reporter arrested in Bangladesh sedition case
New York, October 22, 2020— Bangladeshi authorities should immediately release reporter Ruhul Amin Gazi and let him work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday evening, police officers in the Hatirjheel neighborhood of Dhaka, the capital, arrested Gazi, a reporter with the Daily Sangram newspaper, according to news reports. The arrest came after…
CPJ Insider: Press freedom accountability project, journalists freed, and more
Press Freedom Accountability Project On May 26, 2020, the day after George Floyd was killed, two reporters covering a demonstration in Minneapolis were struck by projectiles. Since then, the number of press freedom violations during Black Lives Matter protests has risen dramatically. More than 850 violations have been reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker—which…
CPJ calls on Bangladeshi prime minister to arrange for release of journalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol
CPJ asks Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to arrange for the immediate and unconditional release of jailed journalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol, whose ill health makes him especially vulnerable to COVID-19 infection, potentially putting his life in danger.
Honduran journalist Luis Alonzo Almendares shot and killed
Miami, September 29, 2020 — Honduran authorities must thoroughly investigate the killing of journalist Luis Alonzo Almendares, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 6 p.m. on September 27, in the central Honduran city of Comayagua, two unidentified individuals on a motorcycle shot Almendares, a local freelance…
Head of US Agency for Global Media ignores request to testify
Michael Pack, head of the United States Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America and several other outlets, has decided to ignore a bipartisan request to testify in front of the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the dangers journalists face under his leadership. CPJ spoke with former VOA staffer Al Pessin about how…