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…
CPJ condemns ‘harsh’ 9-year sentence for Nicaraguan journalist Miguel Mendoza
New York, February 17, 2021 – Nicaraguan authorities should release journalist Miguel Mendoza Urbina from prison immediately, and should ensure that members of the press do not face criminal penalties for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Wednesday, February 16, in a closed door hearing in the Ninth Criminal District Court…
Nicaraguan journalist Miguel Mendoza convicted on conspiracy, false news charges
Guatemala City, February 9, 2022 – Nicaraguan authorities should not contest the appeal of sports journalist Miguel Mendoza Urbina, and should cease filing criminal charges against members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. In a closed-door trial on Tuesday, February 8, Mendoza was convicted of conspiracy to undermine national integrity and…
Opinion: The dilemma facing journalists covering the Beijing Olympics
I don’t envy journalists from around the world who are entering China to cover the Beijing Olympics, held February 4 to 20. Perhaps never in history have the rules of the road for covering the games been so murky and the potential dangers so great for journalists who step over an as-yet-undefined red line that…
‘Nothing like this ever happened here before’: Journalists describe covering mass protests in Kazakhstan
The nationwide antigovernment protests that erupted in early January 2022 in Kazakhstan – which left 225 dead, according to official figures – upended the country’s reputation as one of Eurasia’s most stable authoritarian regimes. They also posed an enormous challenge to Kazakh journalists. Journalists working to cover the unrest were detained by riot police and…
‘Night and day’: The Biden administration and the press
President Joe Biden’s approach to U.S. media is a stark contrast to Donald Trump’s vicious rhetoric. However, one year into the Biden administration, press freedom advocates remain concerned about issues like the president’s limited availability to journalists, the administration’s slow responses to requests for information, its planned extradition of Julian Assange, restrictions on media access…
Journalists at the Beijing Winter Olympics may test China’s tolerance for critical coverage
Can China and the International Olympic Committee maintain a “bubble” of total press freedom inside China’s vast sea of repression? That’s the question facing thousands of journalists as they arrive in the coming weeks to cover the Beijing Winter Olympics, which kick off on February 4. (CPJ’s safety advisory for those attending addresses coronavirus restrictions…
Number of journalists behind bars reaches global high
Editor’s note: Numbers for each prison census are adjusted yearly as CPJ learns of arrests, releases, or deaths in prison. The numbers for CPJ’s 2021 census have been revised from 293 to 302 in accordance with this policy. For the most recent data, see cpj.org/data/imprisoned/ The number of journalists jailed around the world set another record…
Unidentified attackers shoot at car of Mexican journalist Beatriz Flores after she received threatening call
Mexico City, November 17, 2021 – Mexican authorities must immediately and transparently investigate the threats against journalist Beatriz Flores and the shooting attack on her car in Tepeji del Río, in the central Mexican state of Hidalgo, and federal authorities must provide her with protection, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Flores told CPJ…