Features & Analysis

  
Tunisian authorities have tried to censor photos just like this one, which shows civil unrest in Tunis. (AFP/Fethi Belaid)

Tunisia invades, censors Facebook, other accounts

The Tunisian government has been a notorious censor for many years, for journalists online and off. In the wake of widespread domestic protests in December, however, the authorities appear to have turned to even more repressive tactics to silence reporting. In the case of Internet bloggers, this includes what seems a remarkably invasive and technically…

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Bullet holes, bottom right, scar the walls of the now-shuttered newspaper Al-Ayyam. (CPJ/Mohamed Abdel Dayem)

A year after siege, Al-Ayyam is sorely missed in Yemen

Today marks the anniversary of the beginning of the multiday siege by Yemeni police and security personnel of the compound that houses the offices of the independent daily Al-Ayyam. During its assault on the headquarters of the critical daily, the government used automatic machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, and heavy weaponry. The siege and the ensuing…

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Since December 24, about 80 people have died from three bombings in Jos; seen here is a government building smoldering after a blast. (Reuters)

Another Nigerian journalist dies in strife-torn Jos

Augustine Sindyi, a veteran photographer for the state-owned weekly Standard newspaper in Plateau State, was walking home from work on Christmas Eve when a nearby bomb explosion killed him instantly. Sindyi resided in a busy Nigerian neighborhood near the local government offices in the center of Jos. The assailants targeted an area that would receive…

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Saludes in Spain.

Unexpected departure: From jail to exile

It was about 4 in the afternoon on July 8 when the official assigned to me at Toledo Prison, where I’d been locked up for nearly five years, came running to get me. He was in such a hurry that that he tripped and almost fell to the ground. “Saludes, we’re going upstairs,” he said,…

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Sandhya Eknelygoda and sons Sanjay and Harith. (CPJ)

Eknelygoda disappearance devastates Sri Lankan family

Prageeth Eknelygoda has been missing since January 24 of this year. He was a political cartoonist and columnist for Lanka eNews, a website whose editor, Sandaruwan Senadheera, was forced into exile. In Sri Lanka’s highly partisan media climate, Lanka eNews backed the wrong presidential candidate, Sarath Fonseka, who not only lost but was jailed on…

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A poster in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris shows French hostages Stephane Taponier (left) and Herve Ghesquiere. (Reuters/Benoit Tessier)

Cautious optimism for French reporters held in Afghanistan

On December 29, 2009, Stéphane Taponier and Hervé Ghesquière, two seasoned reporters with the French public service TV channel France 3, and their three Afghan assistants, were taken hostage in Afghanistan. One year later, a sense of cautious optimism seems to prevail in Paris. On December 20, French authorities announced that they had received a…

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Post-election violence killed some 1,200 people in Kenya after 2007 elections, when opposition supporters accused incumbent President Mwai Kibaki and his supporters of election rigging. (Reuters)

Kenyan radio station manager wanted at The Hague

Kenyan journalists assumed senior politicians from the ruling party and opposition would be singled out for inciting the public to kill after the 2007 presidential elections–but they were shocked to find out that one of their own has been named.  

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Protecting yourself from denial-of-service attacks

It’s my second link to a report by Hal Roberts (and others at the Berkman Center) in as many days, but I worry that this this detailed document on denial-of-service (DOS) and hacking attacks on independent media and human rights groups might get missed in the holiday season. The news headlines in the last few…

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'The media is now considered part of the opposition,' a civil society leader told CPJ. Seen here is 'opposition' station Radio Publique Africaine, in Bujumbura. (CPJ)

The good times are gone for Burundi’s press

After 2006, Burundi’s government and media relations seemed promising. The airwaves had been open to private broadcasters for years; the president held frequent press conferences, and the government commended the unified press for its professional 2010 pre-election coverage. “The president had organized an open dialogue with the press before the elections,” Information Minister Concilie Nibigira…

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Widespread Net disruption surrounds Belarus election coverage

As I mentioned last Friday, local journalists in Belarus were preparing for targeted disruption to Internet communications during Sunday’s presidential elections. The online news site Charter ’97, which has experienced more than its fair share of denial-of-service (DOS) attacks and police raids in the past, was already warning its readers last week to use their…

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