Features & Analysis

  
This still from the WikiLeaks footage shows a wounded Iraqi being put into a van during a 2007 attack by the U.S. military. (Reuters)

Technicalities: 10 Questions on WikiLeaks

Monday’s release of graphic video footage of an attack by the U.S. military on two Reuters journalists vividly depicted the dangers involved in covering a battlefield. It also thrust into the spotlight WikiLeaks, the enigmatic Web site responsible for obtaining, decoding, and publicizing the footage. Here’s 10 questions answered on WikiLeaks, including how it works, its goals, and some…

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Kyrgyz police, after firing on protesters, come under attack from an angry crowd. (AP/Ivan Sekretarev)

Kyrgyzstan’s familiar path: Press repression, ousted leaders

History seemed to repeat itself this week in the mountainous Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan. For the second time in five years, angry protesters—ignored and suppressed by a corrupt government—ousted yet another president. 

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Farrell writes that “when the news turns bad, the police and other security forces do their best to make sure there is no one around to record it.” (AP)

A distorted picture from Iraq

The Iraqi government is keeping photographers away from scenes of suicide attacks, according to a piece published today by Stephen Farrell on The New York Times’ “At War” blog. CPJ has objected to government regulations promulgated in May 2007 barring photographers from the scene of such bombings for an hour after they take place.

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A perfect press conference in Tunisia

The government of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has made it clear there is little room for a critical press in Tunisia. Taking a cue from the government’s recent anti-press actions, CPJ cartoonist Mick Stern imagines the president’s “ideal” press conference. See more Mick Stern cartoons.

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In Uganda, bill challenges press freedom

On March 24, I received an e-mail from a close friend under the intriguing subject “What…?” On opening the e-mail, I discovered my friend was not impressed by two articles in that morning’s newspapers condemning the government’s recent proposal to amend the press law and introduce new restrictions on the publication of newspapers.

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China imposed strict controls on Google coverage

Our friends at China Digital Times have translated recent orders from China’s State Council Information Office to domestic news organizations and Web sites about how to handle the country’s ongoing dispute with Google. We’re posting an excerpt here, but please read the whole link. There’s a great discussion about government censors’ plans for monitoring social…

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Some of the suspects in the Didace Namujimbo murder trial. (JED)

In Bukavu courtroom, Namujimbo murder trial unfolds

Didace Namujimbo, a journalist for Radio Okapi, was shot dead on the night of November 21, 2008. Now, after repeated delays, a military court in Bukavu, capital of the province of South Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, is putting on trial a dozen people charged in connection with the murder.

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Marquez (AP)

Philippine high court spokesman: Death threats ‘funny’

Midas Marquez, spokesman for the Philippine Supreme Court, has told local reporters that he considers death threats sent anonymously by text message to journalist Marites Dañguilan Vitug to be “funny” and “ridiculous.” Marquez was asked to comment in his official role because the threats began shortly after the release of Vitug’s new book, Shadow of…

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Somali editor Ahmed Omar Hashi has survived three attempts on his life. With CPJ's help, he is now living in Uganda. (CPJ/Karen Phillips)

Somali editor, family make a new life in exile

KAMPALA, Uganda As Ahmed Omar Hashi strode toward me, his figure silhouetted in the bright morning light, it was hard to believe this was the same man who left Mogadishu on a stretcher just six months earlier after suffering a near-fatal gunshot wound. As I reached to shake his hand, he pulled me into a…

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Esperat (CMFR)

In Garcia-Esperat murder, a twisting path to justice

Five years ago today, a gunman strode into the home of muckraking Philippine journalist Marlene Garcia-Esperat, pulled out a .45-caliber pistol, and shot her once in the head. A columnist and radio host on the southern island of Mindanao, Garcia-Esperat had made plenty of enemies while exposing government corruption.

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