CPJ Insider: 2018 Year-End Edition
CPJ believes that all journalists should be able to report freely and safely without any fear of harassment or retaliation. That is why we do what we do. Yet our work is made possible only with your support. So, as we look back today on some highlights of 2018, we thank you for standing with…
Press Freedom in 2018- A note from CPJ Advocacy
Dear friend of CPJ, There is no question that this year has been a tough one for press freedom. The number of jailed journalists topped 250 for the third year in a row, and the number of journalists targeted for murder in reprisal for their work nearly doubled, jumping from 18 in 2017 to 34…
This year in press freedom: Murders of journalists nearly double in 2018
CPJ releases its annual report on journalists killed in 2018. Mexican journalists face deadly dangers when covering crime and politics. Lawsuits and economic crisis drive Venezuela’s journalists into exile. CPJ’s annual report found that between January 1 and December 14, 2018, 34 journalists were murdered in reprisal of their work, nearly double the number of…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of December 16, 2018
Journalist jailed over unpaid fines Hakan Gülseven, a journalist who used to work for the pro-opposition (CHP) daily Yurt, was imprisoned on December 20 after failing to pay 31,500 Turkish lira (US$5,974) in three unpaid fines over charges of insult, the news website Artı Gerçek reported.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of December 6, 2018
Anti-state charges for 5 journalists Five journalists from the opposition daily Sözcü were indicted for “willingly and knowingly helping a [terrorist] organization without being in its hierarchical structure,” BBC Turkey reported on December 10. Chief editor Metin Yılmaz, online chief editor Mustafa Çetin, online news coordinator Yücel Arı, and columnists Emin Çölaşan and Necati Doğru…
CPJ Safety Advisory: Covering 2018 protests in France and Belgium
Despite the French government announcing it will drop a proposed fuel tax rise, the gilets jaunes (yellow jackets) group, truckers, and farming groups have called for more protests, according to The Guardian. Mass demonstrations have taken place across France and Belgium as initial protests over the proposed increase in fuel duty on diesel spread to…
CPJ Insider: December 2018 edition
CPJ’s 2018 awardee Maria Ressa under increasing threat Days before Maria Ressa came to New York to accept CPJ’s 2018 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award, the Philippine government announced that it planned to indict her and the news website she founded, Rappler, for tax evasion and failure to file tax returns.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week beginning November 25, 2018
Court upholds Özgür Gündem sentences A local appeals court in Istanbul on November 29 upheld the earlier prison sentences handed to five of the participants of a solidarity campaign with the daily Özgür Gündem, the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya Agency reported.
Five courageous journalists to be honored at CPJ’s 2018 International Press Freedom Awards
CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal recounts CPJ’s harrowing ordeal in Tanzania. CPJ will honor four exceptional journalists at the 2018 International Press Freedom Awards. In the wake of the Capital Gazette attack, local U.S. newsrooms reassess their security. Bangladesh court grants bail to jailed photojournalist Shahidul Alam. Global press freedom updates Yesterday I met…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of November 8, 2018
Court sentences former Zaman journalist A court in Uşak on November 14 convicted Ali Ünal, a former columnist for the shuttered daily Zaman, of “founding and leading an armed terrorist organization” and sentenced him to 19 years and six months in prison, the news website Diken reported. The court acquitted the journalist of coup-related charges,…