News of the World Archives - Committee to Protect Journalists

A protester in London, dressed as a caricature of News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, burns a government report on media abuses while another wearing a mask depicting Prime Minister David Cameron sits tied to a chair, November 29, 2012. (AP/Sang Tan)

Overzealous British media prompt overzealous backlash

April 27, 2015 11:01 AM EDT

In 2010, Andrew Norfolk was driving to an appointment when he heard a radio news report about a gang of men who had been convicted of the systematic sexual abuse of a teenager.

Would-Be Repressors Brandish ‘Ethics’ as Justification

February 12, 2014 2:23 AM EST

Calls for journalists to exercise a sense of responsibility are very often code for censorship. Yet unethical journalism can also imperil the press. By Jean-Paul Marthoz

Thai website editor Chiranuch Premchaiporn faces criminal charges. (AFP/Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)

Attacks on the Press in 2011: Regulating the Internet

February 21, 2012 11:36 PM EST

Legislation for Internet security can quickly turn into a weapon against the free press. Cybercrime laws are intended to extend existing penal codes to the online world, but they can easily be broadened to criminalize standard journalistic practices. By Danny O’Brien

Until his last days in office, Italy's Silvio Berlusconi pursued restrictive legislation known as the 'gag law.' (Reuters/Alessandro Garofalo)

Attacks on the Press in 2011: Europe, a Leader That Lags

February 21, 2012 11:22 PM EST

In the EU, some countries appear more immune than others to scrutiny and reproach. Anti-terror laws, political and economic concerns, and a lack of common standards all challenge the credibility of the EU’s diplomacy. By Jean-Paul Marthoz

Bernard Hogan-Howe, the new commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, outside Scotland Yard. (Reuters/Andrew Winning)

State secrets claim withdrawn in UK hacking probe

September 23, 2011 9:34 AM EDT

London’s Metropolitan Police this week dropped their attempt to leverage the Official Secrets Act to force The Guardian to reveal confidential sources for stories about the phone-hacking scandal that has gripped the UK’s political and media world. The Met’s reversal is welcome, but its unprecedented attempt to invoke espionage laws to force a newspaper to…

Schlesinger: ‘Media, Murdoch, and social responsibility’

July 22, 2011 2:37 PM EDT

CPJ board member David Schlesinger, who is the chairman of Thomson Reuters in China, delivered a speech today at a conference sponsored by Caixin magazine. He touched on several current issues, and found lessons in the News of the World case that are relevant to journalists everywhere. And I particularly like his description of China’s…