The Torch

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply saddened by the death of Terry Anderson, journalist and CPJ’s former vice chair and honorary chairman. Anderson, a former Associated Press reporter who was kidnapped and held hostage in Lebanon for six years, knew firsthand the threats journalists may face while seeking to report freely, and was…

From April 19 until June 1, India will hold the world’s biggest election, which the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to win. It’s a critical time for journalists. Earlier this year, CPJ compiled safety resources for journalists covering India’s elections, empowering them to tackle a range of…

CPJ welcomes South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s signing into law a bill that abolishes criminal defamation, and urges authorities to reform other problematic laws that threaten press freedom in the country. On April 3, Ramaphosa signed the Judicial Matters Amendment Act (2023), which includes a provision repealing “the common law relating to the crime of…

Sunday, April 7, marks six months since the Israel-Gaza war began. Since October 7, 2023, CPJ has documented the killings of 90 Palestinian, two Israeli, and three Lebanese journalists and media workers—95 in total. We have recorded 25 journalists arrested, 16 journalists injured and four journalists missing. We have also reported on the attacks, arrests,…

This week, CPJ called on the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to investigate Israel’s detention of Palestinian journalists. Israel is utilizing administrative detention to hold a record number of Palestinian journalists without charge during the war. We are calling on the Working Group specifically to investigate the cases of detained journalists Moath Amarneh,…

On Monday night, Al-Jazeera reporter Ismail Al-Ghoul was released by Israeli forces after being held for nearly 12 hours. In an interview with Al-Jazeera, Al-Ghoul recounted how he and several other journalists were assaulted by IDF soldiers, whom he said destroyed the journalists’ tent and damaged their equipment and press vehicles. Al-Ghoul said the journalists…

CPJ is calling on Cameroonian authorities to disclose which journalists—in addition to murdered journalist Martinez Zogo—have been targeted for surveillance by the country’s counterintelligence service and ensure that spying on members of the media is immediately discontinued. The existence of a surveillance operation that allegedly spied on Zogo since at least 2015 was disclosed in a…

Yesterday, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Amnesty International published the findings of a joint investigation into Mexico’s Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists. The report, “‘No one guarantees my safety’: The urgent need to strengthen Mexico’s federal policies for the protection of journalists,” revealed that the Mechanism failed to…

Today, the leaders of more than 30 news organizations worldwide signed an open letter—coordinated by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) with the support of the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA)—affirming their solidarity with journalists reporting in Gaza. “For nearly five months, journalists and media workers in Gaza—overwhelmingly, the sole source of on-the-ground reporting…

After the sudden death of opposition leader Alexey Navalny in a Russian prison on February 16, Moscow has escalated its crackdown on press freedom. ➡️ This week, Russia banned freedom of expression group Article 19 and news organization Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) as “undesirable,” a designation banning them from operating in Russia, and anyone…