“I’ve lost count of the number of fires I’ve covered this year”: How journalists stay safe covering U.S. wildfires
Photojournalist Kent Porter has covered wildfires in the western United States for more than 30 years. But this year, he says, the fires are different. The season’s first fire usually burns about one or two acres, Porter told CPJ in a phone interview. This year, however, the first fire he covered was 140 acres. “Usually…
CPJ highlights dangers for photojournalists covering protests at Photoville NYC
New York, September 24, 2020 – Photojournalists working in the United States this year face an unprecedented combination of risks, including civil unrest, the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate disasters. In honor of their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists is participating in the annual Photoville Festival in New York City as a partner in the…
Kurdish Iraqi security forces arrest freelance photojournalist Qaraman Shukri at his home in northwestern Kurdistan
New York, July 8, 2020 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed concern over the arrest by Iraqi Kurdish security forces of freelance photojournalist Qaraman Shukri. On June 27, officers with the Kurdish Asayish security force arrested Shukri, a freelance contributor to pro-Kurdistan People’s Party (PKK) news website RojNews and the broadcaster KNN, which…
Three photographers arrested while covering protests in Medellín, Colombia
On June 15, 2020, police assaulted, arrested, and detained overnight photographers Harrison Agudelo, Juan Carlos Londoño, and Juan Pablo Herrera, according to Londoño who spoke to CPJ via phone and the Bogotá-based group Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP). The incident happened as the three were covering an anti-government protest in the western Colombian city of…
Photojournalist Christoff Griffith killed at crime scene in Barbados
Miami, June 26, 2020 – Authorities in Barbados must thoroughly investigate the killing of photojournalist Christoff Griffith and ensure those responsible are held to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Griffith is the first journalist CPJ has recorded as killed in relation to his work in Barbados. On June 22, in St. Michael,…
Missing Bangladeshi journalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol arrested after being found near Indian border
Washington, D.C., May 3, 2020–Police in Jessore, Bangladesh, should immediately release journalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol from custody and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Q&A: U.S. photographers navigate a new reality under COVID-19
As newsrooms across the United States gradually shut their doors in March and sent many journalists into the safety of their homes, others have no choice but to remain outside. Photojournalists throughout the U.S. and around the world are continuing to visually document how the world is adjusting to this historic moment amid the COVID-19…
Freelance journalists risk lives and livelihoods amid COVID-19 pandemic
Johannesburg-based freelance journalist Yeshiel Panchia was on his way to cover a story about a local developer who had found a way to keep his wage laborers employed during South Africa’s coronavirus lockdown by letting them live on the construction site so that they didn’t have to leave “home” in contravention of strict rules.
Restrictive terms of Shawkan’s release from Egyptian jail highlighted to UN
On October 10, Mahmoud Abu Zeid turned 33. It was the Egyptian photojournalist’s first birthday out of prison since his August 2013 arrest. But in spite of his celebrated freedom in March, the police monitoring conditions of his probation have, in effect, rendered his release obsolete.