In well-wired South Korea, all is not well for press freedom
CPJ ranks North Korea, with no independent media, as the world’s most censored state. South Korea, with a wide-open press, seldom comes in for criticism. The high-tech, economic powerhouse is ranked as one of the most intensely wired nations in the world, and South Koreans enjoy near universal Internet access. But all is not well…
Honduran community radio director shot; staff threatened
New York, March 25, 2011–Honduran authorities must thoroughly investigate a recent shooting attack against a community radio director and provide protection to the station’s staff after repeated death threats, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Thailand dismisses role in Reuters photographer’s death
New York, March 24, 2011–A Thai police investigation concluded today that government security forces did not kill Reuters photographer Hiro Muramoto, left, during political violence in Bangok on April 10, 2010. But the Committee to Protect Journalists, expressing concerns that the investigation was not transparent, has called for a full, independent investigation into the Japanese…
Ukraine indicts Kuchma in Gongadze murder
New York, March 24, 2011–Eleven years after the brutal murder of online journalist Georgy Gongadze, Ukrainian prosecutors today indicted former President Leonid Kuchma on abuse-of-office charges in connection with the slaying, local and international news reports said.
Yemen shuts Al-Jazeera offices; journalists beaten
New York, March 24, 2011–Yemeni authorities today ordered Al-Jazeera’s offices shut and its journalists stripped of accreditation, escalating a week-long series of reprisals against the station that has included beatings, expulsions, raids, and death threats. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the government’s decision to shut Al-Jazeera and urges authorities to reverse the order immediately.
Kazakh investigators cast Pavlyuk murder as robbery
New York, March 24, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Kazakh authorities today to thoroughly investigate journalism as a motive in the murder of Kyrgyz journalist Gennady Pavlyuk. Pavlyuk, better known by his pen name, Ibragim Rustambek, died in the hospital on December 22, 2009, after having been thrown from an upper-story window of…
Q&A: Ayman Mohyeldin, Al-Jazeera English correspondent
For the millions of non-Arabic speakers around the world who followed Egypt’s revolution live one journalist stood out–Ayman Mohyeldin of Al-Jazeera English. Mohyeldin, 32, used his knowledge of the region and of the West to make sense of the events unfolding in Cairo’s Tahrir Square for an international audience. He also witnessed the unprecedented wave…
Is China censoring phone conversations?
Are Chinese mainland citizens, as has been reported, finding their telephone conversations cut off whenever they mention the word “protest?” While large-scale, real-time voice recognition is a technological possibility, it is at the edge of what is believed likely. It would certainly be revealing about the capabilities of the Chinese government if these anecdotes proved…