Ahead of US presidential inauguration, CPJ publishes safety advisory
CPJ issued an extensive safety advisory for covering the U.S. presidential inauguration and its lead-up, following the violent takeover of the U.S. Capitol last week. CPJ recommends that journalists be prepared for potential hostility and violence from militia groups, protesters, and the police. CPJ called for accountability for attacks on the media during the Capitol…
Amid violence in Washington, D.C., journalist safety must be respected
Following yesterday’s disturbing displays of violence in Washington, D.C., which put journalists and lawmakers alike at serious risk, CPJ remains concerned for the safety of reporters covering civil unrest and political events. Amid the chaos, reported threats against the press yesterday included intimidation of news crews and destruction of equipment. “Journalists and news crews covering…
A year like no other: The state of press freedom in 2020
What a year! Over the past 12 months, journalists worldwide faced the risk of COVID-19 exposure while reporting on the frontlines of the pandemic, and bore the brunt of virus-related crackdowns and censorship. Journalists mobilized to cover consequential elections, and a wave of protests and unrest around the world from Minsk to Minneapolis. Authorities surveilled…
A deplorable year for press freedom: CPJ finds record high behind bars
CPJ has found that the number of journalists jailed around the world for their work has hit a new high in 2020, a statistic with dire implications for the future of press freedom. The pandemic, coupled with protests in numerous countries, created a perfect storm for an increase in journalist detentions. China was the world’s…
Record number of journalists jailed worldwide
Editor’s note: In 2019, CPJ published a new database of attacks on the press. Numbers for each subsequent prison census are liable to adjust yearly as CPJ learns of arrests, releases, or deaths in prison. For the most recent data, see cpj.org/data/imprisoned/. The number of journalists jailed globally because of their work hit a new high in 2020…
Zhang Zhan
Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan is serving a four-year prison sentence in the Shanghai City Women’s Prison for picking quarrels and provoking trouble for her coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Police arrested Zhang, a freelance video reporter, on May 14, 2020. Zhang covered the pandemic on Twitter, which later changed its name to X, and YouTube…
Chen Mei
Chinese journalist Chen Mei is detained in pretrial detention on accusations of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. Beijing police arrested Cai and Chen Mei, volunteers for the crowd-sourced news-archiving project Terminus 2049, in April 2020 after the site republished articles on COVID-19. Started in April 2018, Terminus 2049 collected and archived news items censored by…
Cai Wei
Chinese journalist Cai Wei is being held in pretrial detention on accusations of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. Beijing police arrested Cai and Chen Mei, volunteers for the crowd-sourced news-archiving project Terminus 2049, in April 2020 after the site republished articles on COVID-19. Started in April 2018, Terminus 2049 collected and archived news items censored…
CPJ calls on US government to redouble efforts to defend press freedom
Ahead of Human Rights Day, CPJ Advocacy Director Courtney Radsch delivered powerful testimony to Congress, calling for the U.S. government to redouble its efforts to defend press freedom. In a year marked by grave human rights abuses, Radsch underscored the wide scope of threats confronting journalists, which the global pandemic has compounded. She reminded viewers:…
Media luminaries join together in a powerful celebration of press freedom #IPFA
The media community and supporters of press freedom came together in a powerful celebration of journalism at last night’s International Press Freedom Awards. The host, veteran broadcast journalist Lester Holt, kicked off the evening, which took viewers on a journey through the repression faced by journalists in Iran, the brutal experience of prison for a…