News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, November 2013
Photo credit, Barbara Nitke (CPJ) Journalists honored at CPJ’s annual award ceremony Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef was among four journalists who received CPJ’s 2013 International Press Freedom Award on November 26. Youssef has used humor to report on and criticize government failures to improve the economy and public services, and its efforts to suppress opinion.…
Japan: State security does not justify restricting information
To the group of developed democracies, such as Britain and the United States, each with increasingly restrictive attitudes toward press freedom, add Japan, which appears to be on the brink of passing a new state secrets protection law. If passed by the upper house of the Diet today, it would broaden the criteria the government…
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It is an extraordinarily difficult time to be a journalist. Nearly every month, the digital security landscape shifts–new surveillance concerns are unearthed and freshly drafted laws are introduced that seek to curb freedom of expression under the guise of national security.
Republic of Congo regulators suspend three newspapers
On November 13, 2013, the state-run media regulatory board High Council on Freedom of Communication (CSLC), suspended three private weeklies from circulation for nine months in connection with articles they published that were critical of the authorities, according to news reports. The 11 members of the council are hand-picked by the president and have the…
Kenya’s press takes to the streets against bill
“Mr. President, you gagged us!” said a banner tied to the gates of Parliament today. Kenya’s Editors Guild and the Kenya Correspondents’ Association organized peaceful demonstrations across the country to protest a media bill currently under parliamentary review. Protests were held in every county in the country, according to William Janak, chairman of the correspondents’…
Bill to stifle flow of information poised to pass in Japan
New York, December 3, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned by a new state secrets bill before the Japanese parliament, which, if passed, would broaden the government’s power to determine which information can be kept secret.
Photojournalist briefly detained in Ethiopia
Police in Ethiopia’s western region of Gambella on November 1, 2013, detained Robin Hammond, a freelance photojournalist with dual U.K. and New Zealand citizenship, while he was on assignment for U.S. magazine National Geographic, according to news reports and local journalists.
CPJ joins Pakistani groups in condemning Express attack
The Committee to Protect Journalists has joined the Alliance for Access, a coalition of Pakistani media groups, academic and student organizations, and telecommunications companies working to promote open access, in condemning Monday’s attack on the offices of Express Media Group in Karachi.
Venezuela tries to suppress reports of economic upheaval
Amid skyrocketing inflation and shortages of basic goods, Venezuelan authorities claim that an “economic war” is being waged against the socialist government of President Nicolás Maduro. The government is striking back by forcing stores to discount prices, by arresting business owners accused of hoarding–and by targeting journalists trying to cover the grim economic news.