Annual London ceremony honors fallen journalists
After the din of the day’s student protests died down on Fleet Street, a gathering of a quieter, more somber sort took place. St. Bride’s Church, London’s so-called church of the press, held its annual service this Wednesday to commemorate journalists, photographers, cameramen, and support staff that died in the pursuit of journalism. This year’s…
Keeping a website alive behind the Great Firewall
Wednesday’s post, “Advice for colleagues on the digital front lines,” offered practical advice for keeping a website up and running in a hostile political environment. But such measures are not universally applicable. Sky Canaves, CPJ’s new East Asia and Internet consultant in Hong Kong, sent this reality check for Internet writers in China, where tighter…
Mexican cartels keep up social media intimidation
The dissemination of reports and graphic photos of a dead man, reportedly decapitated and left in the border city of Nuevo Laredo with a warning that he was murdered for using a chat room, appears to be the latest attempt by organized crime to intimidate social media users and control the online agenda. While it’s…
Why can’t Russian embassy officials behave themselves?
The Iron Curtain may have fallen, but the state of press freedom in Russia remains bleak. In what is a post-Cold War first, the Guardian’s Moscow correspondent Luke Harding was expelled from Russia earlier this year. The Telegraph describes what happened to him, and why deportation might have saved him from a worse fate. Click…
Israel continues journalist’s detention
New York, November 10, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by Israel’s continued detention of Hassan Ghani, a correspondent for Iran’s Press TV. Ghani was arrested with four other journalists on Friday when soldiers boarded two humanitarian aid ships sailing toward Gaza, news reports said. The other journalists included Lina Attallah, of Al-Masry al-Youm’s…
Bangladeshi editor rearrested on same day he’s released
New York, November 10, 2011–A Bangladeshi editor was rearrested on the same day he was released on bail, as he was leaving the gate of the prison, news reports said. Police detained Ekramul Haque, editor of Sheershanews website and Sheersha Kagoj weekly, on extortion charges on July 31. On October 25, the High Court in the country’s…
Sri Lankan government to impose guidelines on media
New York, November 10, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the Sri Lankan government’s announcement of an upcoming set of guidelines and code of conduct for journalists and media organizations, and believes these regulations will only increase the government’s control of the media.The announcement, which appeared Thursday in the government-owned Daily News, said the…
Advice for colleagues on the digital front lines
If you’re running a website that’s come under attack, or is likely to, here is some advice on how to protect yourself. First, a little background: On Monday we filed an alert about the Sri Lankan government’s blocking of at least five websites there. The move silenced just about all of the country’s independent online…
Joining the global call for justice
On November 23, 2009, Esmael Mangudadatu decided to register his candidacy for governor of Maguindanao, in the southern Philippines. Because his rivals from the Ampuatan clan had pledged to block him from filing the papers, he dispatched his female relatives, believing that they would not be harmed. He also thought it would increase security to…