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.
For six months, CPJ has covered how Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has affected press freedom in the region. At least 12 journalists have been killed covering the war and CPJ is investigating whether the deaths of three others were related to their work. Russia’s independent media has been gutted as scores of journalists have fled onerous new media restrictions in their homeland, and dozens of Belarusian journalists who earlier found refuge in Ukraine from their own country’s media crackdown were forced to flee yet again.
CPJ continues to call for the protection of Ukrainian journalists, international reporters, and media workers covering the conflict.
Are you a journalist covering the conflict? Check out CPJ’s safety advisories, including a guide to bringing personal protective equipment into Ukraine and a guide to understanding Russia’s “fake news” laws.
On this somber anniversary, read CPJ’s reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war and watch a video commemorating the 12 journalists killed.
Global press freedom updates
- Russian authorities in Crimea order journalist Vilen Temeryanov to be held for two months on terror charges
- Egyptian journalist Raouf Ebeid detained since July
- Nigerian journalist Agba Jalingo detained over defamation, cyberattack complaint
- Congolese journalists Patrick Lola and Christian Bofaya unable to pay bail, denied release
- Mexican journalist Fredid Román shot and killed in Chilpancingo
- CPJ condemns Thursday’s court ruling rejecting journalist and 2022 International Press Freedom Awardee Pham Doan Trang’s appeal of her nine-year prison sentence
- CPJ joins letters urging U.S. government to hold NSO Group accountable on spyware
- Lebanese journalist Mohamad Barakat and the Al-Akhbar newspaper receive threatening messages
- Russian authorities detain journalists and media workers on extortion and fraud charges
- Guatemalan police detain elPeriódico financial manager for alleged money laundering
- Press freedom groups call for Brazilian presidential candidates to ensure safety of journalists covering elections
- Pakistani journalists Jameel Farooqui and Ilyas Samoo arrested; Farooqui remains in detention
- Cambodian prime minister’s bodyguards detain five journalists covering environmental issues
- Taliban intelligence agents detain American filmmaker Ivor Shearer, Afghan producer Faizullah Faizbakhsh in Kabul
- Five Guinean journalists attacked by demonstrators while covering protests
- Nigerian police arrest newspaper distributor in place of journalist in hiding
- Taliban members beat and threaten Afghan journalist Saboor Raufi
Spotlight
In light of the June disappearance and killing of British journalist Dom Philips and Brazilian Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, CPJ has compiled safety guidance for journalists planning to report from the Amazon basin, and best practices for protecting their physical and digital security and the safety of their sources.
The advisory includes sections on pre-assignment planning; positioning, location safety and awareness; traveling and communicating with at-risk individuals and sources; legal concerns; and clothing and equipment. Read the safety advisory here and share it with your networks.
What we are reading
- Interview: “You can kill a journalist without any real consequences” — David Boddiger, The Progressive
- Biden ignores the injustice of Israel killing a Palestinian American journalist — Alice Speri, The Intercept
- It’s not too late for Biden to save these Afghan journalists — Josh Rogin, The Washington Post
- We fled the Taliban in chaos, shock, and terror. A year later we have a new home and hope — Zahra Joya, The Guardian
- How democracy is under threat across the globe — Max Fisher, The New York Times
- “Beaten for knowing Arabic and studying at Jamia”: Siddique Kappan’s wife on his 700 days in jail — Nidhi Suresh, Newslaundry
- Pegasus case: “Government did not cooperate” – Supreme Court cites report — Arvind Gunasekar, NDTV
- Nicaragua’s dictator clamps down on the Catholic Church. Why has Pope Francis remained silent? — Andres Oppenheimer, Miami Herald
A closer look | CPJ’s most-read features in August
- Journalists face growing hostility as Ethiopia’s civil war persists — Muthoki Mumo/CPJ sub-Saharan Africa representative
- “It made me more determined”: Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad won’t stop reporting after Salman Rushdie stabbing — Katherine Jacobsen/CPJ U.S. and Canada program coordinator
- Kathy Gannon: Courageous journalism is happening in Afghanistan. We can help. — Kathy Gannon/Former correspondent and bureau chief for The Associated Press in Afghanistan and Pakistan
- Keeping hope alive — Sonali Dhawan and Waliullah Rahmani/CPJ Asia researchers
- Afghanistan’s media faces crisis—and opportunity — Steven Butler/CPJ senior program consultant
- “I thought about the efforts and struggles of two decades… and cried” — Zahra Joya/Rukhshana news agency founder
- Inside an Afghan news network’s struggle to survive — Waliullah Rahmani/CPJ Asia researcher
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