‘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…
A Nigerian journalist took photos at the scene of killings his government denies. Then the harassment started
The photos showed blood-soaked concrete, a gashed open thigh, and an injured protester grimacing in pain on the ground. Taken by photojournalist Eti-Inyene Godwin Akpan on October 20, 2020, the images tell the story of Nigerian forces’ mass shooting of anti-police brutality protesters at Lagos’ Lekki Toll Gate, an incident the government continues to deny….
Belarus journalists charged, detained over alleged Facebook interactions with banned outlets
Vilnius, Lithuania, November 4, 2021 — Belarusian authorities should cease their practice of banning news outlets, and should not punish journalists for allegedly interacting with such banned outlets, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On November 1, Belarusian courts convicted two journalists, Iryna Slaunikava and Syarhei Niarouny, on charges of spreading extremism over their alleged…
Eight press freedom threats to watch ahead of Nicaragua’s presidential elections
On November 7, Nicaraguans are set to go to the polls to vote for president, the culmination of a campaign that has included the detention of opposition candidates, the banning of civil society organizations, and continued suppression of the country’s independent press. Nicaragua’s press freedom environment sharply deteriorated in 2018, when journalists covering protests against…
China’s Olympic press freedom pledges: Worthless in 2008, absent in 2022
Prospects for free-wheeling media coverage of the February Beijing Winter Olympics seem increasingly dim, not least because of the attitude of the International Olympic Committee. On October 13, John Coates, vice president of the International Olympic Committee, dismissed out of hand calls from CPJ, human rights groups, and US lawmakers to pressure Beijing over its…
Tanzania police arrest cartoonist, journalists on cybercrime and illegal assembly allegations
Nairobi, October 7, 2021—Tanzanian authorities should unconditionally release cartoonist Opptertus John Fwema, and drop investigations into Mgawe TV journalist Harold Shemsanga and the media outlet’s owner, Ernest Mgawe, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On September 24, police arrested Fwema at his home in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, and have since detained…