Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora sentenced to 6 years in prison
After more than a year on trial, José Rubén Zamora, president of Guatemalan newspaper elPeriódico, was convicted of money laundering and acquitted on blackmail and influence peddling charges on Wednesday. He was sentenced to a six-year prison term and a fine. Zamora has been in pretrial detention since July 29, 2022, and has also been…
CPJ welcomes new board chair, Jacob Weisberg
CPJ announced today that Jacob Weisberg has been elected chair of its board of directors. His term will run from 2023 to 2026, and he will succeed Kathleen Carroll, who has been a member of the CPJ board since 2008 and chair since 2017. “When it comes to defending journalists and press freedom, CPJ has…
CPJ marks World Press Freedom Day
CPJ rang the opening bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square in recognition of the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day. The bell ringing ceremony included a speech by CPJ President Jodie Ginsberg, in which she called for the immediate release of Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter wrongfully detained in Russia,…
CPJ rings opening bell at Nasdaq to mark 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day
New York, May 3, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists was joined on Wednesday by prominent journalists and press freedom advocates to ring the opening bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square, recognizing 30 years of World Press Freedom Day. The bell ringing ceremony was hosted by Brian Buckley, senior vice president and chief marketing…
Mahoney: UN can help journalists beyond World Press Freedom Day
New York, May 1, 2023–Evan Gershkovich and Jimmy Lai are about to spend World Press Freedom Day behind bars. Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal Moscow correspondent, and Lai, a pro-democracy Hong Kong media magnate, are among record numbers of journalists in prison as the United Nations marks the 30th anniversary of its special day for…
CPJ releases report on EU’s progress on press freedom
The EU traditionally has been considered among the world’s safest and freest places for journalists. However, reporters working in its 27 member states are under increasing pressure, with several killed because of their work. Others have been censored, spied upon, harassed online, overwhelmed with disinformation, subjected to vexatious lawsuits, charged with revealing state secrets, beaten…
Russia detains Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges
On Thursday, Russian authorities said they had detained Wall Street Journal reporter and U.S. citizen Evan Gershkovich in the city of Yekaterinburg. Later that day, a Moscow court ordered Gershkovich to be placed under arrest until May 29 on charges of spying for the U.S. government. The FSB security service accused the journalist of collecting…
China should improve overseas media accreditation, access following restrictive political meetings
Taipei, March 14, 2023 – Chinese authorities should allow international media to cover events and political gatherings without restrictions, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday, after several accredited journalists reported being denied access or having access restricted to the first major political meetings since China relaxed its zero-COVID policy. The state-run China Daily…
Journalists detained, harassed while covering Nigerian election
At least 14 journalists and media workers were detained, harassed, or attacked while covering Nigeria’s presidential and federal elections on February 25. WikkiTimes editor Haruna Mohammed Salisu was among those arrested, and was held until Thursday, when he was released on bail. Those incidents came after political protesters attacked journalist Jonathan Ugbal on February 22,…
‘I turned around and said goodbye to Nicaragua’: A bitter freedom for 2 deported journalists
Nicaraguan journalists Juan Lorenzo Holmann and Miguel Mendoza had served more than 500 days of their nine-year prison sentences when guards ordered them from their cells and put them on the buses that would take them to a plane bound for Washington, D.C. Holmann, the publisher of La Prensa newspaper, and Mendoza, a veteran sports…