The Torch is a weekly newsletter from the Committee to Protect Journalists that brings you the latest press freedom and journalist safety news from around the world. Subscribe here.
CPJ, RSF call on Philippines to end its persecution of Rappler and Maria Ressa, as prosecutors file five separate tax cases. Unknown gunmen assassinate prominent Syrian radio host Raed Fares and photographer Hamoud al-Jnaid. CPJ is awarded the 2018 Chatham House prize in London.
Global press freedom updates
- Philippines piles on legal threats against critical news site Rappler
- China detains award-winning photographer Lu Guang in Xinjiang
- Lebanese authorities detain Syrian journalist who reports on refugees
- Singapore police seize equipment, interrogate editor of The Online Citizen
- CPJ condemned attempts to hack phones of journalists at Riodoce newspaper, using messages about the murder of their colleague Javier Valdez Cárdenas as bait. Read more of CPJ’s reporting and safety advisories on Pegasus spyware
- CPJ supported a resolution that passed renaming the street in front of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, D.C., “Jamal Khashoggi Way”
- Read the latest Turkey Crackdown Chronicle, CPJ’s weekly round-up of press freedom violations in the country
Spotlight
At the International Press Freedom Awards, CPJ launched #JusticeForJamal, a campaign to honor slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and to highlight the importance of journalism. CPJ is inviting people to share why journalism matters to them, in recognition that Khashoggi was brutally murdered just for sharing his opinion.
Download the card on our website and share the image on social media using the hashtag #JusticeForJamal.
CPJ published an open letter in The Washington Post asking Aung San Suu Kyi to request President Win Myint pardon imprisoned Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo.
What we are reading
- Reckless VI: Mexican Journalists Investigating Cartels Targeted with NSO Spyware Following Assassination of Colleague — Citizen Lab
- The silencing of Pakistan — Ammar Ali Jan, Al-Jazeera
- An environmental newspaper fights for press freedom in the Russian Arctic — Amy Martin, PRI
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