Managing director of Iranian news agency convicted on false news charges
On May 31, 2020, Branch 6 of Tehran’s Media Court convicted Ali Motaghian, the managing director of the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA), on charges of “spreading false news,” according to a report by the news agency. CPJ could not determine what sentence Motaghian received or whether he is in custody. The semi-official Iranian…
Journalist in Ecuador attacked by relative with alleged ties to local government after critical COVID-19 coverage
On April 28, 2020, in Quinindé, Ecuador, journalist Henry Córdova Correa, who works as a news anchor for TV channel UNITV and also presents video news to his 2,942 followers on Facebook, was hit with bricks and a motorcycle helmet by a relative in retaliation for his reporting, sustaining a badly broken leg, the journalist…
Teleamazonas broadcaster attacked with dynamite in Ecuador
Bogotá, June 3, 2020 — Ecuadorian authorities should conduct a speedy and transparent investigation into the explosion at the Teleamazonas broadcaster, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 5:15 a.m. on May 31, a stick of dynamite exploded at the entrance of the independent TV station’s office…
China’s COVID-19 countermeasures include restricting press freedom
In the nearly 71 years of Communist Party rule in China, the country’s citizens have enjoyed brief periods of relatively free speech, as during the abortive Hundred Flowers Campaign in 1956-57, or the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when investigative journalists covered local corruption and pollution. When the coronavirus outbreak first began spreading in…
CPJ demands Cameroonian government account for arrested journalist Samuel Wazizi
New York, June 3, 2020 — Cameroonian authorities must immediately disclose the whereabouts and the health and legal status of imprisoned journalist Samuel Wazizi, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. “Samuel Wazizi’s friends, family, colleagues, and lawyers have unsuccessfully sought answers about his arrest from the Cameroonian government for far too long,” said CPJ…
Map: Attacks on press freedom during the COVID-19 pandemic
Updated June 22, 2021 CPJ has documented numerous press freedom violations since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, from legislation threatening to censor free speech to arrests of journalists providing the public with vital news about the virus. This map plots violations, verified by CPJ staff, across nearly every region of the world from early…
Afghan journalist and media worker killed in bomb attack
New York, June 2, 2020 — Afghan authorities should conduct a swift and transparent investigation into the killing of journalist Mir Wahed Shah and media worker Shafiq Amiri, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On the evening of May 30, a bomb exploded in Kabul, killing Shah, an…
At least 125 press freedom violations reported over 3 days of U.S. protests
Washington D.C., June 1, 2020– Local and state authorities in the U.S. must stop targeting journalists and media workers covering protests and ensure that the press is exempt from any curfew restrictions, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. “We are horrified by the continued use of harsh and sometimes violent actions of police against…
Bangladeshi journalist held in Jordan without lawyer since April
New York, June 1, 2020 — Jordanian authorities should immediately release Bangladeshi journalist Selim Akash and drop any charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On April 14, three men in plainclothes arrested Akash, a reporter for the Bangladeshi satellite broadcaster BanglaTV and news website Jago News, in front of his house…
CPJ Safety Advisory: Covering U.S. protests over police violence
Updated August 26, 2020 There have been hundreds of reported incidents of violence and harassment, as well as arrests, targeting journalists covering ongoing Black Lives Matter protests across the U.S. sparked by the death on May 25, 2020—in police custody—of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man in Minneapolis, Minnesota. These incidents have been documented by CPJ…