CPJ calls on Burundi government to let all news outlets operate without conditions
Nairobi July 8, 2021— In light of Burundi’s decision to lift bans on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and pro-government news site Ikiriho, the Committee to Protect Journalists called on the country to reinstate all banned media outlets. CPJ also expressed alarm at the conditions the U.S. Congress-funded Voice of America (VOA) said were placed…
Angola charges 2 more journalists with criminal defamation over corruption reporting
New York, July 1, 2021—Angolan authorities should drop criminal defamation charges against journalists Coque Mukuta and Escrivão José, stop pursuing such cases against the press, and ensure that journalism is not criminalized, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 17, Angolan judicial authorities charged Coque Mukuta, editor of privately owned news website O Decreto and…
Vietnam sentences 3 independent journalists to more than 10 years in prison
Bangkok, January 5, 2021 – The Committee to Protect Journalists today strongly condemned the convictions and harsh prison sentences handed down to Vietnamese journalists Pham Chi Dung, Nguyen Tuong Thuy, and Le Huu Minh Tuan, and called for their immediate and unconditional releases. Today, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court convicted the three journalists…
Head of USAGM removes firewall regulation aimed to protect editorial independence
Washington, D.C., October 27, 2020—The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned a move by the head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media to eliminate a regulation designed to protect editorial independence for the agency’s networks, including Voice of America. USAGM CEO Michael Pack said in a statement late yesterday that the regulation would be…
Former VOA staffer Al Pessin on VOA’s role amid the Trump-appointee shakeup
At the end of August, journalists with the U.S. Congress-funded Voice of America (VOA) took the extraordinary step of ringing a public alarm bell about moves by the new CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees VOA and several other outlets. VOA broadcasts in 47 languages and employs both U.S. citizens…
Tech platforms struggle to label state-controlled media
Twitter announced last week that it would start labeling some accounts run by media outlets and their top editors as “state-affiliated,” a descriptor intended to improve transparency about the source of information being shared on the platform. Since disinformation became a flash point in the debate over content moderation on social media, distinguishing propaganda from…
Freelance reporter charged with insulting Zimbabwe’s president
On June 29, 2020, Godfrey Mtimba, a freelance journalist in Zimbabwe’s southern town of Masvingo, was charged with insulting and undermining the authority of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the journalist and his lawyer, Phillip Shumba, told CPJ via messaging app. Mtimba was charged under Section 33 (2) (a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act,…
Voice of America visa review could put journalists at risk
New York, July 13, 2020—The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed concern that the U.S. Agency for Global Media’s review of visas at Voice of America could endanger journalists who have worked for the international, U.S.-Congress funded news outlet. “Voice of America has brought independent news to tightly censored countries and offered journalists working in…
CPJ sends letter to U.S. Agency for Global Media head encouraging unbiased coverage
The Committee to Protect Journalists urges new U.S. Agency for Global Media head Michael Pack to ensure editorial independence and unbiased coverage at Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), and Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Internal CDC memo forbids staff from speaking with Voice of America
Washington, D.C., June 15, 2020 — In response to a newly published internal email showing that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) prohibited its employees from accepting interviews with the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Voice of America, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “It is reprehensible that a government agency…