Canadian police block reporting on Indigenous land demonstrations
On September 2, 2020, police in Ontario criminally charged Indigenous journalist Karl Dockstader in relation to his reporting on a campaign to oppose a planned housing development in the province’s Haldimand County, he told CPJ by phone. Charges against Dockstader and at least two other Indigenous people who were documenting the campaign were pending in…
Los Angeles police arrest, charge 2 reporters documenting social justice protest
Washington, D.C., November 5, 2020—The Los Angeles Police Department should drop all charges against reporters Vishal Singh and Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, and refrain from arresting members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, around 7:30 p.m., the LAPD announced a dispersal order in response to Black Lives Matter protests near the intersection…
Brazilian journalists threatened, assaulted while covering pandemic lockdown
Rio de Janeiro, November 4, 2020 — Brazilian authorities must promptly investigate the harassment of journalist Bárbara Barbosa and camera operator Renato Soder and ensure the press can work safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In the morning of November 2, in the southern city of Florianópolis, a group of about nine unidentified…
Peruvian police raid offices of television and radio outlets in Ica, confiscate equipment
Bogotá, November 3, 2020 – Peruvian authorities must immediately allow local news outlets Cadena Sur and Radio La Mega to resume broadcasting, and return any materials confiscated during the raid of the outlets and of Radio Sistema, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On October 27, police officers in the southern Peruvian city of Ica raided the Cadena Sur TV…
Mexican journalist Arturo Alba shot and killed in Ciudad Juárez
Mexico City, November 2, 2020 – Mexican authorities must immediately undertake an exhaustive and credible investigation into the killing of journalist Arturo Alba Medina, and determine if he was killed in retaliation for his work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In the evening of October 29, unidentified assailants shot and killed Alba, host…
Journalist Romano dos Anjos kidnapped and assaulted in Brazil
Rio de Janeiro, October 29, 2020 — Brazilian authorities must promptly and thoroughly investigate the kidnapping of journalist Romano dos Anjos, bring those responsible to justice, and ensure he can work safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On October 26, at about 8:30 p.m., three unidentified men broke into dos Anjos’ home in…
Colombia court’s ruling in Vicky Dávila, RCN defamation case sets dangerous precedent for investigative reporting
Bogotá, October 29, 2020 – The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned a Colombian appellate court’s decision ordering journalist Vicky Dávila Hoyos and media outlet RCN to pay damages for reports broadcast in 2014 on alleged police corruption. On October 15, a Bogotá appellate court ordered Dávila, one of Colombia’s best-known journalists, and the private…
US plans to restrict foreign journalist visas would be chilling, must be scrapped
We hadn’t even finished unpacking our belongings from my assignment in Africa when the phone rang. It was a fellow journalist warning me that the director of Israel’s Government Press Office had just gone on national radio to say he intended to summon me to complain about a story. My wife looked at me anxiously….
Getting Away with Murder
CPJ’s 2020 Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and their killers go free By Elana Beiser/CPJ Editorial Director Published October 28, 2020 Incremental progress toward reducing the murders of journalists worldwide is fragile and could be thwarted by legal appeals and lack of political leadership, CPJ found in its latest report on…
Despite convictions, justice for murdered journalists in Mexico remains abstract
Some recent convictions in the cases of journalists murdered in Mexico may give the impression that the state is making significant progress in the fight against impunity. While CPJ has welcomed the convictions as an important step, the outlook for breaking the cycle of impunity and violence in Mexico has grown more dim under President…