Challenged in China
1. Beyond censors’ reach, free expression thrives, to a point By Sophie Beach On March 24, 2012, investigative journalist Yang Haipeng posted on his Sina Weibo microblog a story he had heard that alleged a link between Neil Heywood, an English businessman who had been found dead in a Chongqing hotel, and Bo Xilai, the…
Challenged in China
2. Although not explicit, legal threats to journalists persist By Madeline Earp Even as China’s virtual landscape buzzes with criticism of social injustices, government policy, and propaganda directives, independent journalism and expression are still perceived by the Communist Party as explicit political threats. Authorities also exploit vague legal language to prosecute dissenters based on published…
Challenged in China
3. Made in China: Models for media and censorship By Danny O’Brien and Madeline Earp As the founding editor, in 2005, of the Liberian online investigative news site FrontPage Africa, Rodney Sieh has fought off lawsuits, imprisonment, and death threats. In the face of such pressures, he has still managed to expand the website into…
Journalists Imprisoned in China
China consistently imprisons dozens of journalists, usually under anti-state laws. The makeup of the prisoners has evolved with the rise of the Internet and as ethnic minorities are increasingly targeted amid unrest in prominently Tibetan and Uighur regions. Below, click on years and categories to see the journalists jailed from 2002-2012 and to group them…
Bo Xilai Scandal: How news breaks in China
Chinese censors worked overtime to squelch reports of the downfall of former Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai and the arrest of his wife on murder charges. But savvy journalists and Internet users stayed with the story and soon it commanded international headlines. Click through the timeline to see how a tightly censored story still made…
In Mali, a journalist stabbed for his critical reporting
Lagos, Nigeria, March 11, 2013–Authorities in Mali must investigate an attack on a critical radio journalist that came two weeks after he received threats warning him to resign from the station, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Kidnapped Ukrainian journalist reported free in Syria
New York, March 11, 2013–A Ukrainian journalist reportedly held by rebel forces in Syria since October is free, according to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and news reports citing the journalist’s relatives. Most news reports characterized Anhar Kochneva as having fled her captors, but few details were reported about the circumstances.
China’s new leadership faces censorship challenge
New York, March 11, 2013–China’s new leaders will face unprecedented challenges to controlling the media, even as journalists’ efforts to test the system continue to carry great risk, according to a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists. CPJ’s report, “Challenged in China: The shifting dynamics of censorship and control,” finds that cracks in…