Egypt tests new censorship law with handling of al-Mashhad website block
Magdy Shandi, editor-in-chief of the Cairo-based independent newspaper al-Mashhad, planned to send 30 journalists to report from polling stations while votes were being cast in Egypt’s constitutional referendum between April 20 and April 22. He ended up ordering them to stay away, he told CPJ in a telephone interview in May. The state’s media regulator…
CPJ Insider: May edition
CPJ celebrates World Press Freedom Day Thank you to all of you who donated to CPJ on World Press Freedom Day! We certainly couldn’t do it without you. Your support has helped CPJ win convictions in journalist murders and the release of hundreds of journalists worldwide, including, just today, the two Reuters journalists who have…
Azerbaijani journalist Sevinc Osmanqizi faces harassment, threats to leak intimate photos
Washington, D.C., May 7, 2019 — Azerbaijani authorities should swiftly investigate the harassment and attempted extortion of exiled journalist Sevinc Osmanqizi by pro-government broadcaster Real TV, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo freed by pardon in Myanmar
Bangkok, May 7, 2019– Reuters’ journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were released today from a Yangon prison in Myanmar as part of a presidential pardon, after spending more than 500 days behind bars, Reuters reported. The journalists were released in a mass amnesty of prisoners granted today by President Win Myint, according to…
Bulgaria’s press navigate harassment, threats in pursuit of stories
In October 2018, Viktoria Marinova, a host for TVN, was raped and murdered near the station’s studios. When CPJ’s Europe correspondent, Attila Mong, spoke with her colleagues and other journalists during a trip to Bulgaria last month, they said that while they don’t believe the attack is linked to Marinova’s work, it has highlighted the…
Telésforo Enríquez, founder of Mexican community radio station, shot dead in Oaxaca
Mexico City, May 6, 2019–Mexican authorities must immediately and transparently investigate the killing of journalist and political activist Telésforo Santiago Enríquez, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Enríquez was found shot dead the afternoon of May 2 just outside the city of Juchitán, in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, according to news reports.
Iran jailing 2 journalists since May Day demonstration
Washington, D.C., May 6, 2019 — Iranian authorities should immediately release Kayvan Samimi, editor-in-chief of Iran-e-Farda magazine, and Marzieh Amiri, economics reporter at Tehran-based newspaper Shargh Daily, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
López Obrador’s anti-press rhetoric leaves Mexico’s journalists feeling exposed
During his daily press conference on April 15, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador told reporters, “If you go too far, you know what will happen.” López Obrador clarified his remarks the following day, saying he meant that the public would hold reporters who unfairly criticize the government to account. But in a country where…
Guatemala elections 2019: Journalist safety kit
Guatemala is scheduled to hold presidential and congressional elections on June 16. The Knight Centre for Journalism in the Americas reported increased violence against the press during the country’s 2015 elections. Journalists have told CPJ they are being attacked and harassed, especially online, over their coverage of corruption, or reports on President Jimmy Morales and…