CPJ

On Saturday night, the Writers Guild of America honored CPJ with the Evelyn F. Burkey award, which recognizes contributions that have “brought honor and dignity to writers everywhere.” CPJ Chairman Paul Steiger and I accepted the award. As Paul noted in his remarks, CPJ couldn’t do its work without “the encouragement of writers and journalists…

There are 125 journalists in jail around the world, according to the latest CPJ census carried out December 1. That’s a slight decline from the previous year, when we counted 127 journalists in jail. Those findings are included in Attacks on the Press, our annual survey, which we released today.

At CPJ, journalists are the news. Follow us on Twitter (our handle is @pressfreedom) to learn what’s happening to journalists and bloggers around the world, to introduce yourself, or to send along information you think we’d want to know.

With an audience of 500 strong, Friday’s Journopalooza was rockin’. Held at the National Press Club, the charity concert benefited CPJ’s journalist assistance fund and the press club’s scholarship and training programs. The lineup featured musicians from The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, McClatchy Newspapers, the Washington Independent, and Bloomberg News, playing blues, pop,…

The Associated Press has coverage today of CPJ’s tally of journalists killed for their work in 2008. The final number rests at 41, with 22 cases still unconfirmed. We released a video remembering those who died in the past year, as well as an in-depth report on those killed in 2008.

I attended a potluck reception for my daughter’s first-grade class last week, and amid the banter about the economic meltdown and arranging play dates I spent a lot of time answering the inevitable questions about what I do for a living.

New York, November 26, 2008 –The Committee to Protect Journalists honored five journalists with its 2008 International Press Freedom Awards in a ceremony Tuesday night that highlighted journalists imprisoned worldwide. A Zimbabwean media lawyer who has successfully defended numerous journalists facing prison was honored for her lifetime achievements.

As guests mingled at the Waldorf-Astoria for the CPJ International Press Freedom Awards, the sound of gunfire echoed from a video screen–a stark reminder in an elegant environment of the dangers faced by the world press. Familiar names like NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, famed Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein, and Jim Willse, editor of New Jersey’s Star-Ledger,…

CPJ is pleased to welcome three leading journalists to its board of directors: Kathleen Carroll of The Associated Press, Lara Logan of CBS News, and David A. Schlesinger of Reuters.