News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, April 2014
World Press Freedom Day campaign In the lead-up to World Press Freedom Day, CPJ has started a campaign highlighting 10 emblematic cases of journalists in prison and calling on authorities to release them and all other reporters being held in relation to their work. CPJ believes that no journalist should be imprisoned for doing their…
CPJ urges free expression be part of post-2015 MDG agenda
Dear Ambassadors Kamau and Kőrösi: I am writing to you in your capacity as the co-chairmen of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals. Your work and the recommendations of your group will help frame the discussion in the coming year as United Nations member states seek to agree a set of objectives to succeed the Millennium Development Goals beyond 2015. We at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) believe it is vital that your report to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon later this year include freedom of expression and access to information and independent media as part of the post-2015 agenda.
News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, March 2014
Pakistani PM pledges justice, journalist security to CPJ A CPJ delegation traveled to Pakistan this month and met with high-level Pakistani officials including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who pledged to continue to expand Pakistan’s media freedoms and address the insecurity plaguing the country’s journalists.
News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, February 2014
CPJ releases annual publication Attacks on the Press CPJ launched the 2014 edition of its flagship publication, Attacks on the Press, on February 12, which was widely covered by local and international media outlets, including The Guardian, Reuters, and the Turkish paper Today’s Zaman. The annual assessment of global press freedom found that digital surveillance,…
Attacks on the Press in 2013
Front-line reports and analytical essays by CPJ experts cover an array of topics of critical importance to journalists. Governments store transactional data and the content of journalists’ communications. Media and money engage in a tug of war, with media owners reluctant to draw China’s disfavor and advertisers able to wield surprising clout. In Syria, journalists…
Attacks on the Press in 2013: Africa
Front-line reports and analytical essays by CPJ experts cover an array of topics of critical importance to journalists. Governments store transactional data and the content of journalists’ communications. Media and money engage in a tug of war, with media owners reluctant to draw China’s disfavor and advertisers able to wield surprising clout. In Syria, journalists…
Attacks on the Press in 2013: Burundi
Burundi’s climate of press freedom deteriorated under President Pierre Nkurunziza in 2013. In June, the president signed into law a severely restrictive bill that forces journalists to reveal sources and places heavy fines and prison sentences on coverage the government considers detrimental to state security or the local economy. In April, CPJ wrote an open…
Attacks on the Press in 2013: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Violations of press freedom, including physical attacks on journalists, arbitrary arrests, detentions, and censorship across the country declined in 2013, compared with the previous year. Several journalists were attacked over the year; the eastern province of North Kivu, where fighting flared between government forces and rebel groups, was the most dangerous region for journalists, according…
Attacks on the Press in 2013: Ethiopia
A year after the death of Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn succeeded in preserving the repressive climate in Ethiopia. Several journalists faced interrogation or prosecution for writing about the late leader, his policies, and even his widow. One journalist, Temesghen Desalegn, former chief editor of the critical weekly Feteh, was charged in February with…
Attacks on the Press in 2013: Guinea
Anti-press attacks increased in Guinea in 2013 amid political unrest and inter-ethnic clashes in the run-up to the country’s long-delayed legislative elections. The voting was finally held on September 28 and won by President Alpha Condé’s party. Journalists were threatened and assaulted while covering pre-election activities, with some saying the assailants were security forces or…