Doing the numbers on press freedom
On Tuesday, CPJ released its annual report, Attacks on the Press, with a global launch in six cities—Tokyo, New York, Brussels, Bogotá, Cairo, and Nairobi. We’ve noticed that different media reports, using our data, have cited slightly different numbers in regards to two key statics, the number of journalists killed and the number imprisoned in…
Columbia J-students learn the price of reporting in Iran
The two venues for the launch of Attacks on the Press in New York couldn’t have been more different. On Tuesday morning I was joined by Newsweek’s Maziar Bahari, and CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Bob Dietz in the hushed auditorium of the Dag Hammarskjöld Library at United Nations headquarters. The event was so well attended…
Uribe to CPJ, FLIP: ‘Illegal spies are enemies of Colombia’
Bogotá, February 17, 2010—Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Vélez said on Tuesday that those who illegally spy on the press are “enemies of his government” during a meeting with a delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Foundation for Freedom of the Press (FLIP). Uribe issued the statement at the urging of the CPJ and…
African journalists face increasing risk for foreign outlets
“I didn’t wear the bulletproof jacket and helmet that Reuters gave me,” explained veteran Somali journalist Sahal Abdulle to a packed crowd at Nairobi’s Serena Hotel for CPJ’s launch of Attacks on the Press. “It didn’t seem right when my colleagues, local journalists, were risking their lives trying to cover the same event.” Abdulle, like…
With new head, how will UNESCO fare on press freedom?
Irina Bokova is the quintessential diplomat—elegant, gracious, and fluent in five languages. But she must have a sharp elbow or two to have emerged victorious in the rough-and-tumble battle last September to lead UNESCO, the Paris-based U.N. agency that promotes culture, education, science, and, occasionally, press freedom around the world.
Journopalooza II at the Washington National Press Club
It’s happening again: Journopalooza II, the rock ‘n’ roll journalists’ extravaganza that a year ago turned the often quiet National Press Club into one of the best parties in town. This coming Friday night two repeat-performing bands, Nobody’s Business and Suspicious Package, will be back along with Dirty Bomb and Charm Offensive. Journalists—including unemployed ones—are…
Reaching out to CPJ’s award winner, imprisoned in Iran
The relentless crackdown on the press in Iran is, well, relentless. In the last few days we have received word that 11 more journalists have been arrested, including former CPJ International Press Freedom Award winner Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, at left. There are 23 other journalists already in prison in Iran, according to the global census CPJ…
Rebecca MacKinnon, Ahmed Rashid, and María Teresa Ronderos join CPJ board
New York, December 21, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists announced the addition of three leading journalists to its board of directors today: Rebecca MacKinnon of Global Voices, Ahmed Rashid, journalist and scholar, and María Teresa Ronderos of Semana.com.
CPJ staff blogs about record death toll
CPJ staffers blogged around the Web today, touching on various issues from our 2009 census of journalists killed. Deputy Director Robert Mahoney has a piece contextualizing the numbers on The Huffington Post; Washington Representative Frank Smyth blogged for The Hill about the importance of the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act; and Tom Rhodes, CPJ Africa…