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…
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…
Here’s how Biden can restore US press freedom leadership
In his four years in office, President Trump has made attacking the media a hallmark of his administration. He has called journalists fake news and enemies of the people — but also scum, liars, and bad people. He continues to blame the media for his electoral defeat, accusing journalists of covering his administration unfairly and…
Globally journalists covering the pandemic continue to face threats
Journalists worldwide continue to face attacks and harassment while covering COVID-19 and related lockdowns. In Brazil, an unidentified group harassed and threatened journalist Bárbara Barbosa and a camera operator while reporting on lockdown compliance. In Italy, a television crew covering anti-lockdown demonstrations were attacked and chased, and journalist Mimmo Rubio was threatened over his reporting…
Getting Away with Murder
CPJ’s 2020 Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and their killers go free By Elana Beiser/CPJ Editorial Director Published October 28, 2020 Incremental progress toward reducing the murders of journalists worldwide is fragile and could be thwarted by legal appeals and lack of political leadership, CPJ found in its latest report on…
Slovak tycoon acquitted in murder case of Slovak journalist Kuciak and his fiancée
Read and subscribe to The Torch newsletter: CPJ disappointed by verdict in trial for murder of Slovak journalist Ján Kuciak; In Iran, 2020 press freedom awardee sentenced to more than 4 years in jail; Journalist Chin’ono released on bail in Zimbabwe
#FreeThePress
In 2023, jailed journalist numbers were near a record high as Israel imprisonments spiked Globally, 320 journalists were imprisoned in connection with their work on December 1, 2023, the second highest recorded since CPJ started recording this data. The previous record was set in 2022, when more than 360 appeared in CPJ’s database. In 2023,…