Viewing the London Olympics coverage from China
Chinese propaganda officials must be thrilled that they’re not responsible for the Olympics coverage in the British papers. Back during the Beijing Games, they worked hard to censor unrest and dissatisfaction in the domestic media. Reports of China’s press freedom and human rights abuses were blocked, the kind of information control idiomatically referred to as…
Reporting truth a high-risk profession
CPJ Deputy Director, Rob Mahoney, testified before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in Washington on worldwide attacks against press freedom this week. His testimony, which highlighted press freedom violations in Honduras, Russia, and Turkey, also addressed the increasing number of local journalists targeted for their reporting.The Epoch Times reports on Mahoney’s testimony and the testimonies of other…
Propaganda officials miss the boat on ‘China’s Katrina’
Chinese journalists are questioning government propaganda due to conflicting reports of the death toll following Saturday’s devastating flooding in Beijing. Like the Wenzhou train crash and the Sichuan earthquake, the tragedy has galvanized mainstream and online journalists–and the official narrative is crumbling under their scrutiny.
Unknown men abduct radio journalist in Colombia
New York, July 26, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the kidnapping of a Colombian journalist and calls on authorities to secure her safe return. Élida Parra Alonso, who covers children’s rights and hosts a program for Sarare Estéreo radio station, was abducted from her home on Tuesday, according to news reports.
Where is Meles Zenawi? Ethiopians don’t know.
If you search for the name of Ethiopia’s prime minister, Meles Zenawi, on Twitter these days, you’ll see a flurry of incongruent postings: Meles is hospitalized in critical condition; he’s fine and returning to work; he died two weeks ago; he’s on holiday. Journalists for international news outlets have tried to sort out fact from…
CPJ Impact
News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, July 2012 CPJ calls for release of jailed Ethiopian blogger CPJ’s condemnation of the trial and conviction of Ethiopian blogger Eskinder Nega this month has received widespread coverage in the international media, as has a follow-up story on the Ethiopian government’s attempts to cover up news of Prime…
Crime journalist reported missing in Veracruz
New York, July 25, 2012–Mexican authorities must immediately investigate the disappearance of a crime photojournalist who was last seen on Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Miguel Morales Estrada worked in Veracruz, which has become Mexico’s most dangerous state for the press, according to CPJ research.
Defense tools for Sri Lanka’s online onslaught
Sanjana Hattotuwa, the founder of the citizen journalism website Groundviews, sent us the links to a new series of posters and videos focused on digital communications security. The material, which is aimed at a Sri Lankan audience, is available in English, Sinhala, and Tamil, but is relevant to anyone who uses the Internet or a…