Attacks on journalists covering Russian invasion of Ukraine continue
More than one month since Russia invaded Ukraine, journalists continue to face grave risks while covering the war. This week, reporters have been shot, injured, and detained, and others remain missing. In Russia, authorities have detained and harassed journalists for their reporting, and the Novaya Gazeta newspaper – one of the last bastions of Russia’s…
Many journalists in exile have to leave the profession. This one saved a local Canadian newspaper
When reporters flee their home countries, many are forced to leave the profession after finding few opportunities in journalism and facing other pressures in exile. CPJ recently spoke with a Pakistani refugee reporter who not only stayed in journalism, but saved a local newspaper in his adopted country, Canada. In 2002, Mohsin Abbas was a…
“The Russian media is dead”
Russian authorities passed new restrictive legislation and blocked local and international media outlets and social media platforms in order to censor information about the war. The move plunges Russia into “an information dark age,” said CPJ Executive Director Robert Mahoney. A local journalist told Mahoney, “The Russian media is dead.” Watch Brian Stelter’s interview with…
Reporting on, and living through, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Local and international journalists in Ukraine are risking their lives to report the news as Russia’s invasion continues. Russian forces have shelled a TV broadcast tower in Kyiv, in an attack that killed five people including journalist Yevhenii Sakun. Journalists are considered civilians, and the bombing may constitute a violation of international humanitarian law. Separately,…
Afghanistan’s intelligence agency emerges as new threat to independent media
On January 19, the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) publicly called on Afghan media to refrain from publishing and broadcasting what it termed “false news and baseless rumors.” The warning amounted to the first public acknowledgement of something that Afghan journalists already knew: a tough new cop was on the beat. The emergence of…
As Russia invades Ukraine, risks mount for reporters covering conflict, CPJ calls for journalists’ protection
As Russian forces invade Ukraine, Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, explains in a Q&A the possible risks for journalists on the ground, including being killed, injured, or taken hostage, and the potential challenges of reporting amid misinformation and disinformation. If a new pro-Kremlin regime is installed in Ukraine, it “would likely…
Fifth Mexican journalist killed in six weeks
Mexican journalist Heber López was shot dead in Oaxaca state on February 10, the latest in a string of journalist killings in the country. López is the fifth reporter killed in Mexico – the deadliest country for journalists in the Western Hemisphere – this year. “These killings will only stop with genuine, decisive actions by…
A jar of soil, a laptop, a handmade black coat: What Afghan journalists took into exile
In the frantic minutes before Naweeda Qayoumi fled her home in Afghanistan last September, she grabbed an empty plastic Vaseline jar and stepped into the garden to scoop a bit of soil from her homeland. She jammed the jar into the backpack she was taking into her unknown future with her husband, journalist Ghazanfar Hassanzada….
Joint statement by the Media Freedom Coalition – Consultative Network: More must be done to defend journalists and media freedom
Tallinn, Estonia, February 10, 2022 — The Media Freedom Coalition – Consultative Network[1], a group of 22 organizations representing civil society, press freedom and media development groups and journalists worldwide, calls on the Media Freedom Coalition to take stronger and more concrete actions to defend media freedom and the safety of journalists worldwide. Media freedom has…
Taliban forces beat, interrogate journalist Zahid Samadzai in Kabul
New York, February 3, 2022 — The Taliban must immediately investigate the detention and abuse in custody of journalist Abdul Qayum Zahid Samadzai, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Tuesday, February 1, a man who identified himself as a member of the Taliban’s Directorate General of Intelligence…