What should journalists know about BlackBerry fights?
The discussions between Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, and governments such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and India continue to hit the headlines. In each case, disagreements center on providing customer communications to security and law enforcement services. The rumblings from these nations over monitoring powers aren’t just limited to RIM:…
Obama tells Africa forum ‘no reason’ for press restriction
One out of 10 delegates participating this week in U.S. President Barack Obama’s Young African Leaders Forum was a journalist. The forum, a U.S. initiative meant to spark discussions on the future of Africa in a year when 17 countries on the continent are celebrating 50 years of nationhood, did not overlook freedom of the press, as I witnessed in…
Hollman Morris, labeled ‘terrorist,’ finally Harvard-bound
For a month, U.S. officials in Bogotá told Colombian journalist Hollman Morris that his request for a U.S. visa to study at Harvard as a prestigious Nieman Fellow had been denied on grounds relating to terrorist activities as defined by the U.S. Patriot Act, and that the decision was permanent and that there were no…
Three hikers in Iran, one year on
On July 30, three American hikers in Iran will have endured an entire year in custody, held without charge or a modicum of due process. This is obviously a terrible injustice, so much so that it surprises me when I mention their situation to skeptical friends or colleagues who believe that the three were foolish to hike…
U.S. Senate passes ‘libel tourism’ bill
This week, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill shielding journalists and publishers from “libel tourism.” The vote on Monday slipped past the Washington press corps largely unnoticed. Maybe it was the title that strove chunkily for a memorable acronym: the Securing the Protection of our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage (SPEECH) Act. Journalists and…
CPJ urges Clinton to reconsider Morris visa denial
Dear Secretary Clinton: We are writing to express our deep concern about the U.S. State Department’s denial of a visa that would enable prominent Colombian journalist Hollman Morris to participate in a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University. The denial, based on a “terrorist activities” provision of the Patriot Act, is unsupported by any available evidence and may be based on misleading or inaccurate information provided by Colombian authorities.
CPJ mourns death of Cameroon’s Pius Njawé
New York, July 13, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists extends its deep condolences to the family and colleagues of Pius Njawé, a pioneering Cameroonian journalist and a press freedom advocate, who was killed in a car accident in the United States on Monday.
U.S. photographer harassed covering Gulf oil spill
On July 2, 2010, photographer Lance Rosenfeld was detained by police and released only after authorities reviewed his images and collected his personal identification information, which they then shared with BP, the company responsible for the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Rosenfeld was on assignment for the non-profit media outlet ProPublica and the PBS…
Global Media Forum cites risks of environmental reporting
He’s young, unemployed and carries himself with the innocence of a man who hasn’t spent much time outside his own village. But Egyptian blogger Tamer Mabrouk is the real deal. Appearing at an international media conference in Bonn, Mabrouk’s description of chemical dumping into a brackish lagoon on the northern Nile Delta near the Mediterranean Sea…
Burma campaign hits Grand Central
New York’s Grand Central Station is a gathering point today for people who are coming into town from a little farther away than usual: Burmese dissidents, writers, monks, and musicians are convening to protest the military junta of Senior General Than Shwe. Human Rights Watch has organized a petition and an art and photo installation in Vanderbilt…