‘Not at the finish line’: Slovak editor Peter Bárdy on ending impunity for Ján Kuciak’s murder
Last month brought mixed news in the quest for justice for 27-year-old Slovak investigative journalist Ján Kuciak, who was murdered with his fiancée Martina Kušnírová in their home outside Bratislava on February 21, 2018. The alleged mastermind, businessman Marián Kočner, is behind bars for forgery; on January 12 an appeals court upheld a lower court ruling sentencing Kočner to…
Meet Mediazona, the punk rock-founded Russian news outlet whose editor was jailed for a tweet
Of the more than 100 Russian journalists who have been arrested or fined covering rallies in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Mediazona chief editor Sergey Smirnov has become a symbol of the absurd lengths to which Russian authorities are willing to go to quash coverage of the events. On January 20, Smirnov retweeted another person’s tweet saying…
To police, ‘the camera is like a red cloth to a bull’: four journalists on covering Russia’s pro-Navalny protests
On January 23, Russia erupted in nationwide demonstrations against the January 17 arrest of Alexei Navalny. The opposition leader was taken into custody at a Moscow airport when he flew home after five months in Berlin, where he was undergoing medical treatment after having been poisoned. (He alleges the Russian government is responsible; Russian president…
A positive step for Julian Assange but a blow to press freedom
A London court’s decision this week not to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States imperils press freedom even as it benefits Assange. In her January 4 decision, Judge Vanessa Baraister ruled that Assange would be at risk of suicide should he be extradited to the U.S. to face criminal prosecution, including on espionage…
Journalist safety in 2020
In this unforgettably tumultuous year, journalists across the world covered the ongoing pandemic, dangerous protests, natural disasters, active conflicts, elections, and other life-changing events. The reporters, anchors, photographers, camera operators, producers, and technicians who brought 2020’s biggest stories to the public often risked their own physical safety and psychological well-being and found themselves the subjects…
Turkish news podcasts on notice as regulator licenses Spotify
Spotify, the New York-headquartered audio streaming service, was one of four companies required to apply for a license to broadcast on the internet in Turkey in October, according to local news reports–a sign of Turkey’s strengthening regulatory power over podcasts, including news and commentary. The requirement was announced as Turkish authorities appeared to be ramping up…
To finally solve the Hrant Dink murder, Turkey must ‘face itself’
After nearly 14 years and multiple court cases, the 2007 murder of Hrant Dink, a Turkish journalist of Armenian origin, remains largely unsolved even as the extended main trial appears to be set to draw to a close. Dink’s teenage killer and his immediate accomplices are behind bars, but prosecutors in the retrial, ordered by Turkey’s supreme court in 2013, have yet…
Journalists jailed for social media “terrorism” highlight content moderation challenges
A journalist in China uploaded a video to YouTube criticizing the Chinese government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. Another, in Vietnam, left a state-owned newspaper but continued posting stories they wouldn’t let her cover on Facebook. In Egypt, a freelance photographer streamed an anti-government protest from his balcony on Facebook Live. In Iran,…
CPJ joins calls for accountability, ending of crackdown in Belarus
New York, December 10, 2020 – Today, on International Human Rights Day, the Committee to Protect Journalists and eight other civil society groups issued a joint statement expressing deep concern about the violation of human rights and press freedom in Belarus in the wake of the August 9 presidential election, and calling Belarusian authorities to…
BBC correspondent describes staying safe, finding journalistic camaraderie during Nagorno-Karabakh’s 6-week war
Journalists who covered the recent six-week-long conflict between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh faced violence to get the story of the region’s latest bloody chapter to the world. At least six journalists were injured in shelling attacks in Nagorno-Karabakh and two were assaulted when a mob descended on a broadcaster in Armenia to oppose its reporting on…