Q&A: Rodney Sieh on how Liberia’s press is faring under Weah presidency
Rodney Sieh, editor-in-chief and publisher of Liberian investigative outlet FrontPageAfrica, knows first-hand the harassment and risks critical journalists in his country face. In 2013, CPJ documented how he was sentenced to prison over unpaid fines in a criminal defamation case.
CPJ concerned about US detention of Iranian TV journalist
New York, January 17, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed concern about the detention of Marzieh Hashemi, a TV anchor and documentary filmmaker for the English-language service of Iranian state broadcaster Press TV, and called on the U.S. Department of Justice to disclose the reason for her arrest.
Gagging orders, legal action, and communist era laws used to try to ‘choke’ Polish press
Polish security agents enter the house of a prominent TV journalist over accusations that he propagated Nazi propaganda. Police summon a reporter over claims that he breached the privacy of the vice-head of the constitutional court. And Poland’s central bank files gagging orders against two papers, demanding they remove several articles about a corruption scandal…
Lawsuits and economic crisis drive Venezuela’s journalists into exile
When Ewald Scharfenberg, the founding editor of the Venezuelan investigative news website Armando.Info, holds editorial meetings, he pulls out his mobile phone. That’s because most of his reporters are in Venezuela while Scharfenberg lives and works in neighboring Colombia.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of December 2
Journalists in court A Diyarbakır Court on December 5 ordered Rojhat Doğru, a journalist formerly with the northern Iraq outlet Gali Kurdistan TV, to be detained pending investigation, the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya Agency reported. According to the report, Doğru was taken into custody in Istanbul on the accusation of “being a member of a [terrorist] organization,”…
Canada’s Supreme Court rules against Vice Media reporter Ben Makuch
New York, November 30, 2018–The Canadian Supreme Court today upheld a lower court ruling that Vice Media reporter Ben Makuch should hand over his communications with a source. In a 9-0 decision, the court dismissed an appeal from Vice Media Canada Inc. and Makuch that challenged a Royal Canadian Mounted Police order requiring Makuch to…
Philippines piles on legal threats against critical news site Rappler
Bangkok, November 29, 2018–Philippine prosecutors have in recent days filed five separate tax cases against critical news site Rappler, including criminal charges that may allow for the arrest of the site’s founder and editor Maria Ressa, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the escalated campaign of legal harassment and calls on…
