Joel Simon/Executive Director
Joel Simon was the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists from 2006 to 2021. He has written widely on media issues, contributing to Slate, Columbia Journalism Review, The New York Review of Books, World Policy Journal, Asahi Shimbun, and The Times of India. He has led numerous international missions to advance press freedom. His book, The New Censorship: Inside the Global Battle for Media Freedom, was published in November 2014. Follow him on Twitter @Joelcpj. His public GPG encryption key can be found here.
Scared silent in Mexico
The Maria Moors Cabot Prize is one of the greatest honors conferred on journalists covering Latin America. The black tie gala, which took place last Thursday at Columbia University’s majestic Low Library, is like an annual reunion for journalists like me who have worked in the region.
Climate change and press freedom
Last weekend I participated in a conference in Venice, Italy, on climate change and the press. The meeting was hosted by former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev under the auspices on the World Political Forum, an organization Gorbachev founded in 2003 to foster discussion on “crucial problems that affect humankind.”
State Department replies to CPJ on Tunisia
As we noted in a recent special report, Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali relies on spying and intimidation to keep his citizens in line. The United States has been a friend and supporter of Ben Ali and not at all consistent in calling attention to ongoing human rights abuses, particularly the harassment, intimidation,…
And then there was one …
Each year, CPJ compiles an annual census of journalists imprisoned around the world, and every year since 2001, the U.S has figured on this list of infamy. During this period, journalists have been imprisoned right here in this country for refusing to reveal their sources; imprisoned by the U.S. military in Iraq for long periods…
Mexico must federalize crimes against press
In Mexico, where violence against the press has become an epidemic, a debate is raging about what should be done to confront this terrible problem. Since 2000, 21 journalists have been killed, seven of them in direct reprisal for their work. The record of violence has produced widespread self-censorship, particularly among regional journalists covering drug…
Growing concern for the fate of journalists in Georgia
At least three reporters have been killed covering the conflict in Georgia, and two others are reported missing. We are investigating reports today that journalists may have targeted at a press center in the city of Gori, which has been flattened in the Russian bombing campaign.
Welcome to the CPJ Blog
We hope to keep you informed here about the latest news affecting journalists and press freedom. We’ll continue to issue our press releases, letters, and carefully researched reports, but this blog should be your first step for up-to-the-minute information. We’ll have firsthand accounts from our staff as they travel the world and brief reports from…