As Cairo speech nears, concerns for Obama
Dear Mr. President: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing ahead of your scheduled speech in Cairo on June 4 to bring to your attention important matters that are crucial to the long-term success of your stated goal of engaging the people–and not just the regimes–of the Arab and Muslim worlds.
Attacks on the Press in 2008: Introduction
By Joel Simon In 2008, the numbers of journalists killed and jailed both dropped for the first time since the war on terror was launched in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. This is welcome news, but it is tempered by harsh realities. The war on terror had a devastating effect on journalists, and…
CPJ urges Obama to assert U.S. leadership on press freedom
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.
Five years after deadly Palestine Hotel and Al-Jazeera strikes, unanswered questions linger
New York, April 7, 2008—Five years after a series of U.S. military strikes against media outlets in Baghdad killed three journalists, CPJ calls on the U.S. military to fully investigate the incidents and make its findings public. CPJ also calls on the U.S. military to implement procedures to address the presence of journalists on the…
Attacks on the Press 2006: Iraq
IRAQ For the fourth consecutive year, Iraq was the most dangerous reporting assignment in the world, exacting a frightening toll on local and foreign journalists. Thirty-two journalists and 15 media support staffers were killed during the year, bringing to 129 the number of media personnel killed in action since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.…
CPJ appeals FOIA denial on Al-Jazeera bombing
New York, October 20, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists has appealed the Pentagon’s refusal to release information about the U.S. bombing of Al-Jazeera television’s Baghdad bureau in 2003 which killed a reporter. The formal appeal sent on Thursday followed the revelation by Britain’s Channel 4 this week that former British Home Secretary (Interior Minister) David…
Author Suskind alleges Afghan bombing of Al-Jazeera was deliberate
New York, June 21, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by allegations contained in author Ron Suskind’s new book, The One Percent Doctrine, that U.S. forces deliberately targeted Al-Jazeera’s Kabul bureau in November 2001. “On November 13, a hectic day when Kabul fell to the Northern Alliance and there were celebrations in the…
Bush, Blair should set record straight on leaked Al-Jazeera threat
New York, November 23, 2005—U.S. President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair should clarify reports by a British newspaper that Bush had raised the idea of bombing the headquarters and other offices of the Qatar-based satellite television network Al-Jazeera during an April 2004 meeting with Blair in Washington. The London-based tabloid the Daily…
WHO KILLS JOURNALISTS AND WHY? Report by the Committee to Protect Journalists to the Committee of Inquiry
Doha, Qatar, Monday, May 23, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists has analyzed the deaths of journalists across the world for many years, producing two recent reports that highlight alarming trends in the circumstances, locations, and motives. At least 339 journalists were killed on duty between 1995 and 2004, according to CPJ research compiled in January.…
CNN’s Jordan is gone, but questions remain over U.S. security record in Iraq
Committee to Protect Journalists This article appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on February 22, 2005 Posted: February 17, 2005 The media was abuzz over comments attributed to CNN news executive Eason Jordan that some of the several dozen journalists killed in Iraq were deliberately targeted by U.S. forces. Pundits, bloggers, columnists, and members of Congress…