Journalist Revathi Pogadadanda at the Mojo TV office in Hyderabad in April 2019. Pogadadanda was detained by police on July 12, 2019. (Kunal Majumder/CPJ)
Journalist Revathi Pogadadanda at the Mojo TV office in Hyderabad in April 2019. Pogadadanda was detained by police on July 12, 2019. (Kunal Majumder/CPJ)

Honoring brave journalists

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On July 12 in Hyderabad, India, police detained Mojo TV’s Revathi Pogadadanda. In a series of tweets, Pogadadanda said police arrived without a warrant to arrest her and tried to seize her phone. The case stemmed from a guest on a January Mojo TV debate show who filed a complaint with police, claiming he had been insulted.

When the Dutch Association of Journalists released the findings of its survey of over 350 female journalists in May, over half said they had been subjected to intimidation or violence in their work. CPJ Europe Correspondent Attila Mong spoke with some of those journalists, and they candidly detailed their experiences of harassment and intimidation.

Global press freedom updates

  • In the Philippines, two unidentified assailants on a motorcycle shot and killed radio anchor Eduardo Dizon while he was driving home after work
  • Journalist Yahya al-Sawari was arrested by Yemeni security forces and held without charge in an unknown location
  • Argentine journalist Daniel Santoro appeared before an Argentine federal court as part of an extortion investigation
  • Ugandan commentator Joseph Kabuleta was arrested over a Facebook post critical of the president
  • Kurdish intelligence officers detained photojournalist Zmnako Ismael in Iraqi Kurdistan
  • Pro-Russia broadcasters were attacked and threatened with violence in Ukraine

Spotlight

CPJ's 2019 International Press Freedom Award winners. Clockwise from top left: Patrícia Campos Mello (Marcos Villas Boas); Neha Dixit (Rajni George); Maxence Melo Mubyazi (Jamii Forums); and Miguel Mora and Lucía Pineda Ubau (100% Noticias).
CPJ’s 2019 International Press Freedom Award winners. Clockwise from top left: Patrícia Campos Mello (Marcos Villas Boas); Neha Dixit (Rajni George); Maxence Melo Mubyazi (Jamii Forums); and Miguel Mora and Lucía Pineda Ubau (100% Noticias).

This week, CPJ announced the five brave and intrepid journalists who will be recognized at the 2019 International Press Freedom Awards.

The awardees are Patrícia Campos Mello, a reporter and columnist at Brazilian daily Folha de S. Paulo; independent investigative journalist Neha Dixit from India; Lucía Pineda Ubau, news director of Nicaraguan broadcaster 100% Noticias, and Miguel Mora, founder and editor of the broadcaster; and Maxence Melo Mubyazi, a champion of online freedom of expression in Tanzania.

Mora and Pineda were recently released after spending 172 days in prison facing charges of “inciting violence and hate” and “promoting terrorism.”

CPJ’s 2019 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award will be presented to Zaffar Abbas, editor of Pakistani daily newspaper Dawn.

The awards ceremony and benefit dinner will take place in New York City on Thursday, November 21. Click here to find more information on attending and covering the event.

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