morocco

New York, June 15, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by defamation charges filed against a Moroccan editor by a group that represents close relatives of King Mohammed VI. A Casablanca court has summoned the editor to appear on Tuesday.

On Thursday, I participated in a panel discussion about media in the Middle East at the United Nations to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. Other panellists included Alya Al-Thani, counsellor, Permanent Mission of Qatar to the United Nations; Abderrahim Foukara, chief of the Washington Bureau of Al-Jazeera; Ebtihal Mubarak, journalist for Saudi Arabia’s English-language daily…

New York, March 26, 2009–The Casablanca court of appeals in Morocco should overturn two suspended jail sentences and fines against an independent newspaper, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

Carl Bernstein discusses his preface. Table of Contents Preface by Carl Bernstein Introduction by Joel Simon Journalists Killed Journalists in Prison Regional Analyses AFRICA: In Text-Message Reporting, Opportunity and Risk AMERICAS: Drug Trade, Violent Gangs Pose Grave Danger ASIA: Media Freedom Stalls as China Sets the Course EUROPE and CENTRAL ASIA: Conquering Television to Control…

Uneasy about satellite television coverage of civil strife and economic hardship, Arab governments are trying to reassert control over the medium. Will a new regional agreement halt the satellite revolution? By Joel Campagna

Egypt took a lead role in developing a regional charter designed to restrict satellite broadcasting throughout the Arab world. At the behest of President Hosni Mubarak, parliament extended the 27-year-old Emergency Law, keeping intact for two additional years a key tool for stifling free expression. In this environment, journalists continued to fend off a rash…

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s economic policies and human rights record drew widespread criticism from academics, activists, and journalists. In response, Ahmadinejad sought to suppress independent media by manipulating government subsidies, exerting censorship, and using the punitive tools of detention and harassment.

Eleven journalists were killed because of their work, making Iraq the most dangerous nation for the press for the sixth consecutive year. Nevertheless, the figure was the lowest yearly toll since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003–and two-thirds lower than the annual figures for 2007 or 2006.

With a shaky six-month truce coming to an end in late year, Hamas rocket attacks on Israel were met with the largest bombardment of the Gaza Strip since 1967. The headquarters of Hamas-controlled Al-Aqsa TV was destroyed and at least two journalists were injured amid massive airstrikes by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). As 2008…