Friday marks the second anniversary of the gruesome murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. CPJ continues our fight for justice in Khashoggi’s case, sending a message to the world that those responsible cannot get away with such a crime. In an op-ed for World Politics Review, CPJ’s Sherif Mansour and Michael DeDora outline paths the U.S. Congress could take to ensure accountability for Khashoggi’s death, despite the White House’s ongoing attempts at obstruction.
In Ukraine, three suspects in the killing of journalist Pavel Sheremet, who died in a car bomb attack four years ago, are set to go on trial before the end of the year. But unanswered questions remain around who ordered the journalist’s killing, as well as what message it was meant to send.
The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) is posed to change the way the internet is governed by giving governments an even more central role in determining the rules for online content. CPJ Advocacy Director Courtney Radsch explores the program’s implications in a new article on Just Security, and what it means for internet freedom.
Global press freedom updates
- At least 4 journalists injured covering Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
- Honduran journalist Luis Alonzo Almendares shot and killed
- CPJ condemns knife attack near the former Charlie Hebdo office in Paris. The attack served as a reminder that threats to journalists have not disappeared in the five years since the attack on the paper
- Without offering proof, Salvadoran President Bukele alleges money laundering investigation into El Faro news website
- CPJ condemns proposal to abolish federal trust fund to protect journalists in Mexico
- Indigenous journalist Anastasia Mejía arrested in central Guatemala
- Nicaraguan ruling party legislators propose law requiring some media to register as “foreign agents”
- Exiled Turkish journalist Abdullah Bozkurt attacked in Stockholm
- Journalist facing criminal charges over reporting on homelessness in Oregon
Spotlight
*2020 numbers through April
This week, CPJ published a feature on the alarming number of radio shutdowns in Venezuela in the last decade. According to data compiled by Venezuelan press freedom group Espacio Público and shared with CPJ, 180 radio stations have gone off the air since 2009.
As Venezuelans try to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic amid ongoing widespread shortages of basic necessities, the government of President Nicolás Maduro has continued to restrict reporting, and radio stations have continued dropping from the airwaves.
Radio is crucial to keeping Venezuela’s population informed, especially in remote areas, as many print newspapers have been forced to close, internet shutdowns have become more frequent, and television outlets have been censored. But this vital source of information is at risk of dying out.
Learn more and explore CPJ’s interactive map of radio shutdowns here.
A closer look | CPJ’s most-read features in September
- As ruling party fans spew online abuse, Pakistan’s female journalists call for government action
- When police patrol protests in military gear, journalists face a hostile reporting environment
- Australia’s journalist union on Facebook, Google, and who should pay for news
- Bertha Foundation: Omar Radi’s arrest blocked Moroccan land rights exposé
- In an era of global protest, France and Israel stand out for use of dangerous ammunition
What we are reading
- “Whenever One Journalist is Injured, It’s an Injury to All of Us,” says Hopewell Chin’ono — Fungai Tichawangana, Nieman Reports
- Facebook Disables Hundreds of Accounts Linked to Wet’suwet’en Support Rally — Amanda Follett Hosgood, The Tyee
- Chilling effect — Usama Khilji, Dawn
- As a female broadcaster, I know how ‘lookism’ holds women back — Afua Hirsch, The Guardian