Doing the numbers on press freedom
On Tuesday, CPJ released its annual report, Attacks on the Press, with a global launch in six cities—Tokyo, New York, Brussels, Bogotá, Cairo, and Nairobi. We’ve noticed that different media reports, using our data, have cited slightly different numbers in regards to two key statics, the number of journalists killed and the number imprisoned in…
Columbia J-students learn the price of reporting in Iran
The two venues for the launch of Attacks on the Press in New York couldn’t have been more different. On Tuesday morning I was joined by Newsweek’s Maziar Bahari, and CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Bob Dietz in the hushed auditorium of the Dag Hammarskjöld Library at United Nations headquarters. The event was so well attended…
Clarín on Attacks on the Press
The February 16 edition of Argentina’s Clarín newspaper has Spanish-language coverage of CPJ’s Bogota launch of Attacks on the Press in 2009 . The article entitled, “Fuerte crítica del Comité de Protección de Periodistas por los ataques a Clarín”, by Miguel Wiñazki, highlights CPJ’s regional essay and also deals with CPJ’s coverage of raids on…
Uribe to CPJ, FLIP: ‘Illegal spies are enemies of Colombia’
Bogotá, February 17, 2010—Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Vélez said on Tuesday that those who illegally spy on the press are “enemies of his government” during a meeting with a delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Foundation for Freedom of the Press (FLIP). Uribe issued the statement at the urging of the CPJ and…
Colombian government tells CPJ it ‘rejects’ illegal spying
Shortly after arriving in Bogotá to launch Attacks on the Press, I realized the Colombian government was well aware of our concerns about illegal espionage against the media. Top government officials, including President Alvaro Uribe Vélez, had confirmed meetings with a delegation from CPJ and the local press freedom group Foundation for Freedom of the…
African journalists face increasing risk for foreign outlets
“I didn’t wear the bulletproof jacket and helmet that Reuters gave me,” explained veteran Somali journalist Sahal Abdulle to a packed crowd at Nairobi’s Serena Hotel for CPJ’s launch of Attacks on the Press. “It didn’t seem right when my colleagues, local journalists, were risking their lives trying to cover the same event.” Abdulle, like…
Yemeni reporter who covered reputed crime gang is slain
New York, February 16, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder on Saturday of Muhammad al-Rabou’e, a Yemeni reporter for the monthly Al-Qahira who wrote several articles about the alleged activities of a reputed criminal group. Al-Jazeera and other news outlets said five individuals burst into Al-Rabou’e home in the district of Beni Qais,…
CPJ urges Ethiopia’s Zenawi to pursue press reforms
Mr. Prime Minister: We are writing to draw your attention to conditions that undermine press freedom as guaranteed in Article 29 of the Ethiopian Constitution. We would welcome your leadership in furthering reform by working for the repeal of draconian provisions in recent antiterrorism and media legislation.
New York Times on Attacks on the Press
The February 16 edition of the New York Times has coverage of CPJ’s launch of Attacks on the Press in 2009 at the United Nations. The article, “Record Number of Journalists Killed in 2009”, by Neil MacFarquhar, highlights CPJ’s call to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon “to make a more assertive and firm stand in…