U.S. reclassifies 5 Chinese state media organizations as ‘foreign missions’
On February 18, 2020, the U.S. State Department said in an official press briefing that five Chinese state-funded news agencies–Xinhua News Agency, China Global Television Network, China Radio International, China Daily Distribution Corporation, and Hai Tian Development USA–are controlled by the Chinese government and will be treated as “foreign missions,” a designation typically used for…
Iranian authorities detain journalist Mohammad Mosaed again for social media posts
On February 22, 2020, intelligence agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) arrested and interrogated freelance economic reporter Mohammad Mosaed for several hours over recent social media posts critical of the government and suspended his social media accounts, according to a brief interview he had with the BBC Persian Service a few hours after…
Liberian police assault editor Christopher Walker at soccer tournament
On January 23, 2020, officers of the Liberia National Police assaulted Christopher Walker, the sports editor of the privately owned daily newspaper FrontPage Africa, during the semi-final of a national soccer tournament at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sport Stadium in Monrovia, the capital, according to Walker, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app, local news…
Liberian journalist dies weeks after alleged assault by presidential bodyguards
On January 26, 2020, bodyguards of Liberian President George Weah assaulted Zenu Koboi Miller, a local broadcast journalist, as he was leaving the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sport Stadium in Monrovia, the capital, where he had covered the final of a national soccer tournament, according to a Facebook post by the journalist, local journalists who spoke…
Nigerian journalist Fejiro Oliver charged with cybercrime for corruption report
Fejiro Oliver, the publisher of the privately owned Secret Reporters news site, is scheduled to appear in court in Nigeria’s southwestern Lagos city on May 28, 2020, after years of adjourned legal proceedings, he told CPJ. Department of State Services (DSS) agents separately questioned him three times about his reporting in 2019, he said. Oliver’s…
Nigerian police detain News Digest web developer, charge journalists
Nigerian police charged Gidado Yushau, the publisher of the privately owned News Digest news website, and freelance journalist Alfred Olufemi with criminal conspiracy and defamation on November 12, 2019, according to a copy of the charge sheet seen by CPJ. The next court date is scheduled for March 4, 2020, Olufemi told CPJ. If convicted,…
Canadian police detain, obstruct journalists covering raid on pipeline protesters
On February 6, 2020, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced that they would begin physically removing protesters, many of whom are members of the indigenous Wet’suwet’en people, from encampments in British Columbia, where they have been demonstrating against the construction of a natural gas pipeline, according to media reports.
