South African journalist arrested, threatened
Cape Town, South Africa, January 29, 2014–South African authorities should drop charges against a journalist who was roughed up and detained after photographing police officers allegedly involved in bribery, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Ricky Dire, a journalist with the Daily Sun, also received death threats.
Obama must chart clearer course on surveillance policy
Tonight President Obama has another opportunity to redirect the country’s out-of-control surveillance programs during his annual State of the Union address. He should seize it. The president’s much-anticipated January 17 speech about U.S. surveillance policy, which came in response to outrage over National Security Agency spying, left much unsaid–and many of the commitments he did…
Anti-press abuses on third anniversary of Egypt uprising
New York, January 28, 2014–Several local and international journalists have been attacked and detained in Egypt while covering deadly clashes between police and supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi, according to news reports. The clashes erupted on Saturday, the third anniversary of the uprising in Egypt.
Media suffer winter chill in coverage of Sochi Olympics
In the run-up to the Sochi Winter Games, official repression and self-censorship have restricted news coverage of sensitive issues related to the Olympics, such as the exploitation of migrant workers, environmental destruction, and forced evictions. The information vacuum comes amid a generally poor climate for press freedom across Russia. A CPJ special report by Elena…
Tougher tactics emerge in China’s media crackdown
Late in 2013, Time’s Hannah Beech posted a great blog on the magazine’s website around the time that about 24 foreign journalists were worried that the visas allowing them to work in China might not be approved: “Foreign Correspondents in China Do Not Censor Themselves to Get Visas,” she told readers. She’s right, of course,…
Media suffer winter chill in coverage of Sochi Olympics
CPJ report looks at restrictions on news coverage in run-up to Winter Games New York, January 28, 2014–Obstruction by Russian authorities and journalists’ self-censorship in a repressive climate have restricted news coverage of sensitive issues related to the Sochi Winter Olympics, the Committee to Protect Journalists found in a report released today.
South Sudanese towns suffer information vacuum
“This is the worst situation I ever reported since I started reporting in 2007,” BBC Media Action producer Manyang David Mayar told me after he left the restive town of Bor, Jonglei State in South Sudan. Forced to walk long distances carrying his suitcase on his head to escape the fighting in Bor, Mayar drank…