Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, Syria
In April 2014, around 17 Syrian activists set out to document the abuses of Islamic State after the militant group took over and declared the northern city of Raqqa to be the caliphate’s capital. Additional Content Acceptance Speech Newseum Interview The activists, working anonymously for their safety, formed a group, Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently…
Zone 9 Bloggers, Ethiopia
In April 2014, Ethiopian authorities arrested six bloggers affiliated with the Zone 9 collective. The bloggers–Abel Wabella, Atnaf Berhane, Mahlet Fantahun, Natnail Feleke, Zelalem Kibret, and Befekadu Hailu–were charged with terrorism. Additional Content Acceptance Speech The Zone 9 blogging collective was formed in May 2012 in response to the evisceration of the independent press and…
Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque (“Zunar”), Malaysia
The personal slogan of Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, a Malaysian cartoonist who is better known by his penname “Zunar,” is: “How can I be neutral? Even my pen has a stand.” Additional Content Acceptance Speech Zunar is best known for his provocative cartoons that lampoon issues of high-level abuse of government power and corruption. His portraits…
Kathy Gannon
Kathy Gannon is a special regional correspondent for Pakistan and Afghanistan for The Associated Press. She has covered the region for the AP as a correspondent and bureau chief since 1988, a period that spans the withdrawal of Russian soldiers from Afghanistan, the assassination of Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the Afghan civil war between…
Prominent Thai reporter held by military government
New York, September 14, 2015– The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the detention of Pravit Rojanaphruk, a prominent Thai journalist at the English-language daily The Nation, who is being held in military detention at an undisclosed location, according to reports.
CPJ to release report on European Union’s press freedom record
New York, September 14, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists will release its first report on the EU’s press freedom record, Balancing Act: Press freedom at risk as EU struggles to match action with values, at a press conference in Brussels on September 29, 2015. The report analyzes how the EU struggles to balance its ideals…
Shooting of freelance reporter increases fear for South Sudan’s press
Freelance journalist Peter Julius Moi used to ride a motorbike without wearing a helmet, despite warnings from one of his colleagues to be more careful. Moi would just shrug off those concerns, saying that as a South Sudanese journalist “risk was simply part of life.” Last month, the reporter was shot dead as he walked…
Colombian journalist shot to death in Huila state
Bogotá, Colombia, September 11, 2015–A Colombian journalist was shot dead on Thursday in front of the radio station where she worked, according to news reports. Flor Alba Núñez Vargas had received threats in connection with her reporting, a local journalist told the Committee to Protect Journalists.