A deplorable year for press freedom: CPJ finds record high behind bars
CPJ has found that the number of journalists jailed around the world for their work has hit a new high in 2020, a statistic with dire implications for the future of press freedom. The pandemic, coupled with protests in numerous countries, created a perfect storm for an increase in journalist detentions. China was the world’s…
Record number of journalists jailed worldwide
Editor’s note: In 2019, CPJ published a new database of attacks on the press. Numbers for each subsequent prison census are liable to adjust yearly as CPJ learns of arrests, releases, or deaths in prison. For the most recent data, see cpj.org/data/imprisoned/. The number of journalists jailed globally because of their work hit a new high in 2020…
Zhang Zhan
Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan is serving a four-year prison sentence in the Shanghai City Women’s Prison for picking quarrels and provoking trouble for her coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Police arrested Zhang, a freelance video reporter, on May 14, 2020. Zhang covered the pandemic on Twitter and YouTube from Wuhan, the center of the COVID-19…
Chen Mei
Chinese journalist Chen Mei is detained in pretrial detention on accusations of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. Beijing police arrested Cai and Chen Mei, volunteers for the crowd-sourced news-archiving project Terminus 2049, in April 2020 after the site republished articles on COVID-19. Started in April 2018, Terminus 2049 collected and archived news items censored by…
Cai Wei
Chinese journalist Cai Wei is being held in pretrial detention on accusations of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. Beijing police arrested Cai and Chen Mei, volunteers for the crowd-sourced news-archiving project Terminus 2049, in April 2020 after the site republished articles on COVID-19. Started in April 2018, Terminus 2049 collected and archived news items censored…
CPJ calls on US government to redouble efforts to defend press freedom
Ahead of Human Rights Day, CPJ Advocacy Director Courtney Radsch delivered powerful testimony to Congress, calling for the U.S. government to redouble its efforts to defend press freedom. In a year marked by grave human rights abuses, Radsch underscored the wide scope of threats confronting journalists, which the global pandemic has compounded. She reminded viewers:…
Media luminaries join together in a powerful celebration of press freedom #IPFA
The media community and supporters of press freedom came together in a powerful celebration of journalism at last night’s International Press Freedom Awards. The host, veteran broadcast journalist Lester Holt, kicked off the evening, which took viewers on a journey through the repression faced by journalists in Iran, the brutal experience of prison for a…
Here’s how Biden can restore US press freedom leadership
In his four years in office, President Trump has made attacking the media a hallmark of his administration. He has called journalists fake news and enemies of the people — but also scum, liars, and bad people. He continues to blame the media for his electoral defeat, accusing journalists of covering his administration unfairly and…
Globally journalists covering the pandemic continue to face threats
Journalists worldwide continue to face attacks and harassment while covering COVID-19 and related lockdowns. In Brazil, an unidentified group harassed and threatened journalist Bárbara Barbosa and a camera operator while reporting on lockdown compliance. In Italy, a television crew covering anti-lockdown demonstrations were attacked and chased, and journalist Mimmo Rubio was threatened over his reporting…
Getting Away with Murder
CPJ’s 2020 Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and their killers go free By Elana Beiser/CPJ Editorial Director Published October 28, 2020 Incremental progress toward reducing the murders of journalists worldwide is fragile and could be thwarted by legal appeals and lack of political leadership, CPJ found in its latest report on…