‘An accumulation of lies’: Right-wing group La Resistencia stokes anti-press fervor in Peru
Journalist Gustavo Gorriti remembers the days — just a few years ago — when people on the streets of Lima approached him to congratulate him for exposing corrupt government officials, drug trafficking mafias, and human rights abusers. A few even asked him to pose for selfies. These days, though, motorists shout insults at him from…
CPJ’s support to exiled journalists jumped 227% in 3 years, reflecting global press freedom crisis
Keep closely connected to your homeland and don’t despair: that is advice Syrian journalist Okba Mohammad said he would offer to Afghan journalists who fled after the August 2021 Taliban takeover. Mohammad knows firsthand the challenges of exile. In 2019, he made a new life in Spain after fleeing the Syrian civil war with CPJ’s…
CPJ joins call urging authorities to drop charges against Asheville Blade reporters
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined the Freedom of the Press Foundation and over 45 other organizations in a letter on Wednesday, May 3, calling for the Buncombe County district attorney’s office to drop charges against Asheville Blade reporters Veronica Coit and Matilda Bliss. The pair were arrested on December 25, 2021, while covering the…
La Prensa’s Juan Lorenzo Holmann: ‘I turned around and said goodbye to Nicaragua’
Juan Lorenzo Holmann Chamorro was on the verge of sleep in his Nicaraguan jail cell when he was issued civilian clothes, taken to the airport, and told to sign a handwritten document agreeing to be deported to the United States. Holmann, the publisher of La Prensa, Nicaragua’s oldest newspaper, had been incarcerated since August 2021….
Nicaragua’s Miguel Mendoza on his bittersweet deportation from his ‘kidnapped’ country
Miguel Ángel Mendoza Urbina, a veteran sports journalist with over 30 years of experience, made a life-changing decision on April 19, 2018, when anti-government protests erupted in Nicaragua. He realized he could not just focus on sports while his country was in turmoil. Mendoza used his Twitter and Facebook accounts, with a combined following of…
Forensic tools open new front for using phone data to prosecute journalists
On April 13, police in Russia’s Khakassiya republic arrested Mikhail Afanasyev and seized his digital devices. Afanasyev, chief editor of the online magazine Novy Fokus, was detained based on an article about riot police in southern Siberia refusing to serve in Ukraine. He faces a possible 10-year prison sentence for spreading “false” information. It’s not surprising for…
CPJ joins call urging U.S. Senate to advance the PRESS Act
The Committee to Protect Journalists Monday joined nearly 40 other press freedom and civil liberty organizations in a letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, urging him to advance the PRESS Act in a 2022 end-of-year omnibus bill. The legislation would create a federal shield law that would protect journalists from being forced to…
CPJ joins letter calling on incoming Brazilian government to address press freedom concerns
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined this week eight civil society groups and press freedom organizations in a letter to the communications working group of the Brazilian transitional government, urging the incoming federal administration to adopt measures to protect press freedom and the safety of journalists. In a meeting with representatives of the working group…
The legal battle to protect slain reporter Jeff German’s electronic devices–and why it’s so concerning for press freedom
A district judge last week barred police from accessing electronic devices used by Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German before his fatal stabbing in September – but only for a while. The measure was a preliminary injunction against searching German’s cellphone, hard drive, and computers, but a further ruling expected this week could authorize a…
For Mexican journalists, President López Obrador’s pledge to curb spyware rings hollow
“Practically nothing.” RíoDoce magazine editor Andrés Villarreal spoke with a sigh and a hint of resignation as he described what came of Mexico’s investigation into the attempted hacking of his cell phone. “The federal authorities never contacted me personally. They told us informally that it wasn’t them, but that’s it.” Over five years have passed…