The Philadelphia Daily News has a story this morning about two video bloggers arrested by police in Beijing this week. The New York Times also has coverage of the arrests, along with details about overall press harassment during the Games. CPJ issued an alert on Thursday, protesting both the detentions and the harassment of two…
We issued the following statement today in response to Thursday’s abduction and subsequent release of Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora, a 1995 recipient of CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award: “We are alarmed by the kidnapping and reported beating of José Rubén Zamora, president of the Guatemalan daily El Periodico. Zamora has previously been the victim…
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China just released its updated list of “cases of reporting interference.” What’s reporting interference? I’ll let the FCCC’s reporters speak for themselves:Since the beginning of the Olympic period on July 25, the day the Main Press Center officially opened, the FCCC has received more than 30 confirmed cases of reporting…
Hong Kong, August 22, 2008—Chinese police should halt ongoing harassment of photographers seeking to document pro-Tibet protests in Beijing, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today in the wake of reports that two video bloggers have been detained and two Associated Press journalists obstructed. Video bloggers Brian Conley and Jeff Rae were detained early Tuesday…
Iraq: New York, August 21, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of a Reuters cameraman held by U.S. forces in Iraq for three weeks without charge, and it calls on the military to charge or release an Associated Press journalist who has been held since June. Ali al-Mashhadani, 39, was freed today, Reuters…
Chen Ruolin’s win in the women’s 10-meter platform dive today brought China’s gold medal count to 46, and dominated the online headlines. With the closing ceremony just three days away, news outlets are trumpeting the unprecedented victories of the Chinese athletes, now leading their closest competitor, the United States, by 18 gold medals. They are…
Topping the news this morning is the release of Iraqi cameraman Ali Al-Mashhadani, who had been held by US forces without charge for three weeks in Iraq. Reuters is reporting that Al-Mashhadani was released early Thursday after being held “because he has been assessed to be a threat to the security of Iraq and coalition…
About a week ago I mentioned a South China Morning Post article, “Screws tighten on mainland journalists” that outlined a 21-point memo that had come down from the Central Propaganda Department in July, giving guidelines for China’s media coverage during the Olympics. These sorts of directives are typically disseminated across the country, to editors at…
New York, August 20, 2008—Authorities in Niger summarily suspended a private broadcaster for a month citing unspecified regulatory violations, according to local journalists and news reports. The station has provided sympathetic coverage of the country’s former prime minister, now jailed on corruption charges, according to several sources. In a ruling obtained by CPJ, the state-run…
VENEZUELA: New York, August 20, 2008—Military personnel and officials from the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) shut down two radio stations in the central Guárico province Monday night. The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that the stations appear to have been singled out and subjected to disproportionate enforcement.