Spain is set to reform ‘gag law,’ but press freedom groups are skeptical
In May, Diego Díaz Alonso, editor of Spanish non-profit news outlet Nortes, was surprised to receive a 601 euro (US$611) fine in the mail. The letter claimed that Díaz Alonso had resisted police and obstructed emergency services as they were treating a homeless person lying unconscious in the street in Gijón, in northern Spain, the previous summer….
Far-right supporters harass French reporter Toufik-de-Planoise
Berlin, September 8, 2022—French authorities should swiftly and thoroughly investigate the recent harassment of reporter Toufik-de-Planoise, bring those responsible to justice, and ensure that journalists covering the far right can work safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On August 22, a group of four men confronted de-Planoise, a reporter for privately owned local…
Cambodian prime minister’s bodyguards detain 5 journalists covering environmental issues
Bangkok, August 22, 2022 – Cambodian authorities must thoroughly investigate the recent detention and harassment of five journalists by members of the prime minister’s security team, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On August 16, Prime Minister Hun Sen’s bodyguards detained five journalists with the independent news outlet…
‘It made me more determined’: Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad won’t stop reporting after Salman Rushdie stabbing
After novelist Salman Rushdie, the target of an Iranian fatwa, was stabbed in western New York last week, Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad said she saw messages on social media saying she should be punished next. Alinejad, who has extensively covered human rights in Iran and campaigns against the country’s compulsory hijab rule, is no…
Sierra Leone soldiers beat broadcast journalist Maada Jessie Jengo
On July 2, 2022, four Sierra Leone soldiers slapped, punched, and kicked broadcast journalist Maada Jessie Jengo on various parts of his body, and also slashed his face with a sharp object, according to news reports and Jengo, who spoke by phone to CPJ. The attack on Jengo, senior producer and presenter with the privately…
Kathy Gannon: Courageous journalism is happening in Afghanistan. We can help.
Journalism in today’s Afghanistan is certainly wounded, but it’s far from dead. The evidence is produced daily, even hourly: This is not journalism as it was before the Taliban took power last August, but it is journalism. It demands our respect and support. Sounding the death knell on journalism in Afghanistan is an insult to…
Keeping hope alive
Afghan journalists in exile continue reporting despite an uncertain future “I lost my family, my job, my identity, and my country,” Afghan journalist Anisa Shaheed told CPJ in a phone interview. A former Kabul-based reporter for TOLONews, Afghanistan’s largest local broadcaster, Shaheed is one of hundreds of journalists who fled Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover…
Inside an Afghan news network’s struggle to survive
Threats, insults, beatings, and censorship: Former Ariana News staffers detail dire challenges during a year under Taliban control For veteran journalist Sharif Hassanyar, the final breaking point came in September last year. The Taliban had ousted the elected government of Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani almost a month earlier, and the last American soldiers had since…
Afghanistan’s media faces crisis—and opportunity
Twelve months after the Taliban takeover, many Afghan journalists are out of work or on the run. Others try, very carefully, to challenge the powerful. The extreme distress that has gripped Afghanistan’s independent media since the Taliban seized power in Kabul on August 15 last year lands in my inbox—and the inboxes of many of…
Iraqi Kurdish authorities detain, raid, harass journalists and media outlets covering protests
Beirut, August 9, 2022 – Iraqi Kurdistan authorities should immediately cease detaining and harassing journalists and media workers and allow them to report on political unrest freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On August 5 and August 6, Asayish security forces in several locations in Iraqi Kurdistan interfered with the work…