Sub-Saharan Africa censors Mideast protests
As news of Middle Eastern and North African protests swirl around the globe, satellite television and the Internet prove vital sources of information for Africans as governments fearful of an informed citizenry and a free press such as in Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, and Zimbabwe impose total news blackouts on the developments.
Tunisia must end crackdown on media
New York, January 12, 2010–Tunisian authorities must end their weeks-long crackdown on bloggers and reporters covering street protests, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Scores of journalists have been detained in the past four weeks, three of whom remain in custody. Local and international reporters have faced continued harassment, including detention, restrictions on movement,…
Attacks on the Press in 2008: Preface
By Carl Bernstein When the Committee to Protect Journalists was founded in 1981, the prevailing threats to freedom of the press around the world were still from juntas, dictators, authoritarian regimes, and social systems determined to dominate the media as a means of maintaining control over citizens, usually within the boundaries of the nation-state. Toward…
Authorities block journalists’ telephone services
New York, September 14, 2007— The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by reports that several Burmese journalists have recently had their telephone services cut by government authorities. According to the Burma Media Association and Burmese exile-run news sources, a number of reporters have recently experienced either permanent or recurring cuts of their cell phone…
Burmese authorities move to restrict news coverage of protests
New York, August 29, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned about the Burmese government’s restriction of news coverage of recent nationwide protests over an August 15 government decision to end fuel price subsidies. According to the Burma Media Association (BMA), plainclothes police and pro-government groups brandishing crude weapons have threatened, harassed, and physically…
Attacks on the Press 2006: Saudi Arabia
SAUDI ARABIA Prompted by post-9/11 criticism that Saudi Arabia’s closed society had bred violent religious extremism, the government has eased constraints on the country’s heavily censored domestic press, and local journalists have seized the initiative to produce more daring reports on crime, drug trafficking, unemployment, and religious extremism. But progress has been uneven and limited,…
Attacks on the Press in 2004: Facts
When U.S.-led forces waged an offensive in Fallujah in November and a state of emergency was declared, the Iraqi interim government’s Higher Media Commission directed the media to “set aside space in your news coverage to make the position of the Iraqi government, which expresses the aspirations of most Iraqis, clear.” Those that didn’t comply…
Attacks on the Press 2004: China
China (including Hong Kong)It was a disappointing year for those who hoped that President Hu Jintao would allow a greater degree of freedom for China’s increasingly market-oriented press. After taking over the presidency from Jiang Zemin in 2003, Hu consolidated power in September 2004, when Jiang gave up his final leadership post, the chairmanship of…