Two years into Taliban rule, media repression worsens in Afghanistan
When the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in 2021, they promised to protect press freedom and women’s rights – a key facet of their efforts to paint a picture of moderation compared to their oppressive rule in the late 1990s. “We are committed to the media within our cultural frameworks. Private media can continue to…
Commonwealth Secretariat denies entry to at least 2 journalists seeking to cover summit in Rwanda; others left in limbo
Durban, June 17, 2022 — The Commonwealth Secretariat should ensure that all journalists can freely cover the upcoming summit in Rwanda, and should not allow the press accreditation process to be used as a political tool, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which brings together the leaders of…
Russian journalist Insa Lander stranded at Georgia border after fleeing house arrest
Stockholm, June 17, 2022 – Georgian authorities should allow Russian journalist Insa Lander to enter the country and work safely and freely, and should accept the asylum applications of journalists seeking refuge, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. Lander, whose legal name is Insa Oguz, had been held under house arrest in the Russian…
CPJ urges countries to give refuge to Russian journalists after Georgia refuses entry to Dozhd TV’s Mikhail Fishman
Washington, D.C., March 7, 2022 – Governments around the world should allow independent Russian journalists fleeing prosecution to enter their countries and find safe haven, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On Saturday, March 5, authorities at Georgia’s Tbilisi International airport denied entry to Mikhail Fishman, a journalist for the now-shuttered independent Russian outlet…
Mali expels French reporter Benjamin Roger, suspends media accreditation process
New York, February 11, 2022 — Malian authorities should ensure that bureaucratic obstacles do not prevent international journalists from entering the country and covering it freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On Monday, February 7, police officers in the capital, Bamako, arrested French national Benjamin Roger, a reporter at the privately owned news…
New Russian immigration laws require regular medical tests, fingerprinting
New York, February 2, 2022 – Russian authorities should ensure that international journalists can work freely and safely and are not singled-out by new medical regulations, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On December 29, 2021, new amendments to two laws – “On legal status of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation” and “On…
Biden and the media: CPJ’s press freedom recommendations
CPJ is concerned that U.S. President Joe Biden has not addressed many of the Obama and Trump-era limitations on press freedom. In ‘Night and Day’, a CPJ special report on the Biden administration’s relationship with the press during its first year in office, former Washington Post executive editor Leonard Downie Jr. found that while some…
Russia refuses to renew visa for BBC correspondent Sarah Rainsford
Stockholm, August 16, 2021 – Russian authorities should extend the visa of BBC correspondent Sarah Rainsford and allow foreign correspondents to work in the country freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In a broadcast on the evening of August 12, Russian state news channel Rossiya 24 reported that the country’s Foreign Ministry would…
CPJ joins call for new emergency visa regulations to protect journalists fleeing threats
Yesterday, the Committee to Protect Journalists joined a panel marking the launch of a report, “Providing Safe Refuge to Journalists at Risk,” published by the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, and CPJ endorsed the report’s findings and recommendations. The report recommends that countries prioritize the issuance of emergency visas to allow…
US plans to restrict foreign journalist visas would be chilling, must be scrapped
We hadn’t even finished unpacking our belongings from my assignment in Africa when the phone rang. It was a fellow journalist warning me that the director of Israel’s Government Press Office had just gone on national radio to say he intended to summon me to complain about a story. My wife looked at me anxiously….