Investigative reporter Bradley Hope: Pegasus spyware revelations a ‘wake-up call for journalists’
Bradley Hope was in Abu Dhabi in 2009, the year the BlackBerry devices overheated. “If you put it next to your face it would almost burn,” he told CPJ in a phone interview. The BBC that year reported that a UAE telecom company had prompted local BlackBerry owners to install a rogue surveillance update disguised…
CPJ Insider: July 2021 edition
Jimmy Lai, of Hong Kong’s Apple Daily, to receive CPJ’s 2021 Gwen Ifill award Jimmy Lai, the imprisoned founder of Hong Kong’s Next Digital media company and Apple Daily newspaper, will be honored with CPJ’s 2021 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award, CPJ’s board of directors announced in June. The award recognizes an individual’s extraordinary and…
Ethiopian journalist Abebe Bayu abducted and assaulted
Last week, unidentified men in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa abducted Ethio Forumjournalist Abebe Bayu at gunpoint, drove him to the city’s outskirts, and warned him to cease criticizing the government. They then seized both of his cell phones and fled the scene. Three days later, Ethio Forum announced on Facebook that it was…
Nika Soon-Shiong joins CPJ’s board of directors
New York, June 25, 2021—The Committee to Protect Journalists announced today that Nika Soon-Shiong, the executive director of the Fund for Guaranteed Income, has joined the organization’s board of directors. “We are delighted to welcome Nika to the CPJ board,” said Kathleen Carroll, chair of the board. “She is enthusiastic about the mission of protecting…
Israeli lawyer Eitay Mack on bringing transparency to surveillance exports that threaten press freedom
“Many countries are using these technologies to put people in jail,” Israeli lawyer Eitay Mack told CPJ in a recent video interview. He was describing advanced surveillance capabilities, such as those that CPJ has documented being used to target journalists like Omar Radi and Maati Monjib, who were both jailed in Morocco in 2020. Israeli companies like NSO Group and Cellebrite market equipment to…
2021 International Press Freedom Awards
On November 18, 2021, CPJ honored brave, courageous journalists from around the world at our 2021 International Press Freedom Award ceremony. CPJ’s 2021 award winners: Katsiaryna Barysevich Katsiaryna Barysevich is a Belarusian journalist who spent months in prison on charges of “violating medical confidentiality with grave consequences” in connection with her reporting on large-scale protests….
Jimmy Lai
CPJ presented its 2021 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award, for extraordinary and sustained achievement in the cause of press freedom, to Hong Kong media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai. Lai has become a powerful symbol of the struggle to maintain press freedom in Hong Kong as China’s Communist Party exerts ever greater control over the territory. In…
New York Times freelancer Jeffrey Moyo detained in Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe, authorities arrested New York Times freelancer Jeffrey Moyo and charged him over allegedly misrepresenting the accreditation status of two of his Times colleagues. Authorities denied Moyo’s bail request, and ordered him to remain in custody until June 10. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in jail. In Myanmar, authorities’ crackdown…
Israeli air strikes destroy buildings housing more than a dozen media outlets in Gaza
In Colombia, journalists covering mass protests have been robbed, harassed, and injured; nearly half of the violations against journalists were allegedly committed by the National Police and its Mobile Anti-Riot Squad, according to the Bogotá-based Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP). More information can be found in our safety advisory for journalists reporting on unrest in…
Two Spanish journalists killed in Burkina Faso while covering poaching
Burkina Faso was the site of tragedy this week as Spanish journalists David Beriain and Roberto Fraile were killed after being abducted Monday from a wildlife reserve. The pair were working on a documentary about poaching when unidentified gunmen ambushed the group they were traveling with. CPJ called on authorities to thoroughly investigate the killings…