CPJ support helps an injured Haitian reporter
His collarbone severely fractured in the January 12 earthquake, Haitian journalist Yves Adler Boissonniere needed considerable medical attention—care that he could not get in his devastated country. With US$40 and a few gourdes (Haiti’s currency) in his pocket, Boissonniere decided in late January to cross the border to the Dominican Republic in hopes of getting…
CPJ condemns police harassment of Nigerian editor
New York, February 12, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on police and prosecutors in northern Nigeria to withdraw the threat of arrest and prosecution of Mallam Tukur, left, the editor-in-chief and publisher of the independent weekly, Desert Herald, based in Kaduna State.
Costa Rica eliminates prison terms for defamation
New York, February 12, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the Costa Rican legislature to remove criminal defamation provisions from its penal code after a recent Supreme Court decision eliminated prison terms from its 1902 Printing Press Law.
On way to Olympic protests, reporters stopped at border
New York, February 12, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about reported border incidents involving journalists attempting to enter Canada from the United States to cover protests and other events related to the Olympic Games, which begin tonight.
Protective bylines, and why they’re necessary
I’ve been writing a lot recently about the urgent need to protect journalists in Afghanistan and Pakistan (a string of links is at the bottom of this entry). While neither country has become as dangerous as, say, Iraq at the height of the conflict, conditions are getting more dangerous for reporters. And very often, it…
Amid crackdown, two blogs shuttered in Vietnam
New York, February 12, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Vietnamese government’s apparent shutdown of two politically oriented blogs, Blogosin and Bauxite Vietnam. The sites, both of which published critical perspectives on sensitive government issues, had been the targets of ongoing hacking, The Associated Press and the Agence France-Presse reported.
Japanese journalists under pressure: Kisha Clubs and stress
Katsuya Fujimoto and Shuichi Yutaka, the general secretary and the president of Shinbun Roren, the Japan Federation of Newspaper Workers’ Unions, sit at a table in their office in Tokyo’s Bunkyo-ku district amid a pile of papers. A software engineer with a media company and a journalist, each on two years’ leave, they are shuffling…
Feng Zhenghu home safe after Kafkaesque exile in Japan
Journalists, friends, and supporters of Feng Zhenghu, who I interviewed in Tokyo on Monday as he was about to end his involuntary exile in Japan, have been making full use of the Internet to document his arrival home in Shanghai’s Pudong Airport this afternoon.
Two journalists missing in Sri Lanka
New York, February 11, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the disappearance of two journalists in Sri Lanka. Chandana Sirimalwatte, chief editor of the Sri Lankan weekly newspaper Lanka, was detained by police around noon on January 30, according to his wife, Hemali Abeyratne, and staffers at the paper. Lanka e News journalist Prageeth…
Japanese investigative reporter challenges Kisha system
Yu Terasawa seems philosophical as he discusses plans for his fourth lawsuit against the Japanese state, which he says he plans to initiate next week. Lawsuits are a part of daily life for Terasawa, who has been at the forefront of Japan’s investigative journalism community for almost 20 years as a freelance reporter specializing in…