In a small town in central Guatemala, authorities have repeatedly harassed radio journalist Anastasia Mejía in connection to her protest coverage. Mejía’s outlet Xolabaj Radio, which she co-founded, provides a platform for Indigenous women.
In Mozambique, Matías Guente and his newspaper, Canal de Moçambique, have faced official harassment and intimidation in recent years, including a 2020 arson attack on the newspaper’s offices.
After Myanmar authorities cracked down on independent reporting in the wake of February’s military coup, pioneer and visionary journalist Aye Chan Naing redoubled his commitment to keeping the world informed about what’s happening in the country as the co-founder, chief editor, and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma.
Join us in celebrating the work of these brave journalists tonight at 8 p.m. EST/1 a.m. GMT at the 2021 International Press Freedom Awards. The show will stream on our Twitter, Facebook and YouTube pages, so don’t miss it! Prefer Instagram? Make sure to check out our stickers; look up “IPFA” or “press freedom” in your Instagram Stories composer and make sure to tag CPJ.
CPJ will also honor imprisoned Hong Kong media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai with the 2021 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award for his extraordinary and sustained achievement in the cause of press freedom. Lai faces charges that could keep him in jail for the rest of his life.
Stream IPFA at ipfa.cpj.org and follow along with the event on social media using the hashtag #IPFA!
- Journalist and activist Muhammad Zada Agra fatally shot in Pakistan
- Indian journalist Avinash Jha’s body found in Bihar. Separately, Indian police open terror investigation into five journalists
- Iranian photojournalist Rahil Mousavi arrested on unspecified charges
- Lawyer Douglas Jacobson speaks to CPJ about what U.S. export restrictions could mean for Israel’s NSO Group
- CPJ condemns arrest of Al-Jazeera bureau chief Al-Musalmi al-Kabbashi in Sudan. He has since been released
- Hong Kong refuses visa renewal for Economist correspondent Sue-Lin Wong
- Egypt sentences journalists Hisham Fouad and Hossam Moanis to four years in prison
- Unidentified attackers shoot at car of Mexican journalist Beatriz Flores after she received threatening call
- Iraqi Kurdish security forces raid, close office of news website Gav News in Duhok
- Nigerian journalist Luka Binniyat detained over complaint by Kaduna state official
- Peru opens criminal investigation into Ojo Público’s Ernesto Cabral over corruption reporting
- Proposed Salvadoran “foreign agent” law could impact media organizations
- CPJ concerned over FBI raid on home of Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe
This week, American journalist Danny Fenster, who spent nearly six months imprisoned in Myanmar, was released and reunited with his family in New York City. Days earlier, Fenster was convicted by Myanmar authorities on multiple charges in retaliation for his journalism, and sentenced to 11 years in prison with hard labor. Bill Richardson, a former New Mexico governor and U.S. ambassador to the U.N., helped negotiate Fenster’s release. CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon joined Fenster and others for a press conference marking Fenster’s return.
As CPJ Deputy Executive Director Robert Mahoney noted in an interview on CNN, CPJ estimates there could be at least two dozen journalists that remain behind bars in Myanmar, and CPJ continues to work for their immediate release.
- The High Price of Doing Journalism in El Salvador — Nelson Rauda, ProPublica
- What a Journalist Jailed For 20 Years Reveals About the Global Assault on Independent Media — Judith Abitan and Irwin Cotler, Time
- COVID-19 and the global media sector: Developments and ways forward — Alexander Matschke, Johanna Mack, Dennis Reineck, Roja Zaitoonie, Deutsche Welle