Freelancer

Dear President-elect Obama: I am writing as chairman of the Committee to Protect Journalists to seek your leadership in reaffirming America’s role as a staunch defender of press freedom throughout the world. Journalists in many countries who risk their lives and liberty upholding the values of free expression look to the United States for support.

January 4, 2009 Colin Freeman, Sunday Telegraph, Daily Telegraph José Cendon, freelance ABDUCTED Freeman, a British foreign correspondent for London’s Sunday Telegraph, and Cendon, a Spanish freelance photojournalist, were released January 4 after four weeks in captivity, according to multiple reports. 

New York, December 31, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the intimidation of Tunisian journalists who tried to cover efforts Tuesday by the opposition Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) to demonstrate against Israeli attacks on Gaza. Two journalists were assaulted and three faced harassment in Tunis, according to several CPJ interviews.

March 28, 2008 Sean Langan, freelance ABDUCTED A Taliban-linked group kidnapped freelance British television journalist Sean Langan and his translator near the town of Torkham on the border with Pakistan. He was working in Afghanistan on a documentary series for publicly owned U.K. broadcaster Channel 4, according to U.K. news reports.

The now infamous incident of Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi throwing his shoes at President George Bush became primetime news throughout the world. In the Middle East it has been shown on television almost endlessly. 

New York, December 17, 2008–A journalist who disappeared in Zimbabwe on Saturday may be in police custody, journalists in Harare told CPJ.

New York, December 11, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed concern for the welfare of prominent activist and writer Liu Xiaobo, who has not been heard from since authorities detained him in Beijing on Monday, according to his wife and lawyer. 

New York, December 9, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes a presidential pardon for a journalist in Iraqi Kurdistan who had been sentenced to six months in prison, in direct violation of the region’s press law. 

Our annual census of imprisoned journalists, which lists 125 journalists in jail, has gotten more coverage today and over the weekend. Geek has a story that focuses on our finding that the majority of those in prison are online journalists. The Web site ArsTechnica also examines this angle in its coverage, and Democracy Now! ran a similarly…

The release of CBC correspondent Mellissa Fung, who had been abducted by a criminal gang in Afghanistan, is the focus of a few stories today. The Associated Press has coverage of her month-long ordeal, and that piece has been picked up by various papers including The Boston Globe and The Baltimore Sun.