CPJ Insider: February edition
PRESS Act passes U.S. House unanimously in a win for press freedom The PRESS (Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying) Act, which unanimously passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on January 19, would create federal protections for journalists’ sources by restricting law enforcement’s ability to access a journalist’s private reporting material and digital records….
Iranian journalists face jail, raids, legal threats
CPJ is closely monitoring what is becoming an epidemic of arrests and legal threats against journalists in Iran. In the last two months, we have documented over a dozen jailings, sentencings, lawsuits, and raids on journalists’ homes in the country. These arrests show that “Iranian authorities are desperate to silence their critics,” said CPJ Middle…
Canadian-Palestinian journalist disappears in Gaza; reports allege eyewitnesses saw IDF arrest
Update: On Tuesday, February 6, Mansour Shouman posted a new video from southern Gaza, saying he had been on the run for two weeks to avoid Israeli tanks and sniper fire. Washington, D.C., January 30, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists expresses deep concerns over the reports that Canadian-Palestinian citizen journalist Mansour Shouman went missing on his way…
14 years on, wife of missing Sri Lankan journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda fights for justice
“I don’t know how long it will take, but I will get justice for my Prageeth,” Sandya Ekneligoda, wife of abducted Sri Lankan journalist and government critic Prageeth Ekneligoda, told CPJ via video call. It has been 14 years since Prageeth’s disappearance. Prageeth, a then 50-year-old cartoonist and columnist for the news website Lanka e…
2023 prison census: Jailed journalist numbers near record high; Israel imprisonments spike
By Arlene Getz/CPJ Editorial Director Worst Jailers | New Developments | Regional Repression | Census Methodology Israel emerged as one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists following the October 7 start of the Israel-Gaza war, the Committee to Protect Journalists’ 2023 prison census has found. Israel ranked sixth – tied with Iran – behind…
Year in review: The most-read press freedom stories of 2023
As we approach the end of a truly volatile year, CPJ has documented physical attacks, imprisonment, and legal harassment against the press accelerate relentlessly in frequency and severity, and we have seen more journalists than ever fleeing into exile. Journalists face increasingly hostile environments in conflict zones, as more journalists have been killed in the…
CPJ calls for accountability in Israeli strike on journalists
Reports released today by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse (AFP) into the October 13 strike on journalists in southern Lebanon found that the attack, which killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and injured six others, was likely a deliberate assault by the Israel Defense Forces on civilians, which would constitute a war…
In Mali, 1 journalist killed, 1 injured, 2 kidnapped by unidentified gunmen
Dakar, December 5, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed and saddened by an attack on four journalists in northeastern Mali by unidentified gunmen last month, in which one journalist was killed, a second injured, and two were kidnapped. On November 7, the attackers fired on the journalists’ vehicle between the eastern town of Ansongo…
Reflecting on what CPJ is grateful for in 2023
As 2023 begins to wind down, journalists around the world continue to face multilayered challenges to do their jobs. Yet some press freedom developments inspire us, strengthen us, and make us grateful. Here is a short list: CPJ is grateful to the journalists covering the Israel-Gaza war who continue to bring us vital news despite…