Óscar Martínez: Trust and safety for journalists and sources is vital in El Salvador
Óscar Martínez knows first-hand the dangers of reporting on crime and gang violence. The co-founder of Sala Negra (Black Room)–an investigative reporting project run by the El Salvadoran new outlet El Faro–says he and his colleagues have been threatened and harassed for their hard-hitting coverage. But, Martínez says, their sources are equally at risk of…
Mexican journalist and CPJ awardee Javier Valdez Cárdenas murdered
New York, May 15, 2017–The Mexican prosecutor for crimes against freedom of expression in Mexico should swiftly investigate the murder of Javier Valdez Cárdenas and bring all those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Valdez was shot and killed today near the offices of Ríodoce, the local weekly he founded in…
Families of jailed journalists in Egypt await outcome of latest trials
Every two weeks Mohamed al-Fakharany prepares to visit his brother, Abdullah al-Fakharany, in prison. He packs food, clothes, books, and, most importantly, written responses to his older brother’s letters. Mohamed al-Fakharany, who told CPJ that he has never missed a visit, was only 11 when his brother– the executive director of opposition news outlet Rassd–was…
Fighting for the Truth
Journalists have a huge amount of work to do By Christiane Amanpour Never in a million years did I expect to find myself appealing for the freedom and safety of American journalists at home. Despite the hostile rhetoric of the U.S. presidential campaign, I hoped that after becoming president-elect, Donald Trump would change his approach…
Hong Kong journalists try range of models to battle press freedom challenges
A new Chinese-language website pledging to provide Hong Kong with “independent, accurate and fair” news is the latest journalism venture to open in the city, in an attempt to counter increasing Chinese control of the media. Citizen News was launched January 1 by a group of journalists, including Kevin Lau Chun-to and Daisy Li Yuet-wah,…
In Egypt, censorship, an arrest, and court hearings for journalists
Restrictions against the press continue in Egypt, with ongoing trials of journalists, some of whom have been in detention for more than three years, allegations that a TV station was ordered to drop a planned broadcast of an interview with a former official, and a reporter detained while trying to cover a sensitive story. Egypt…
CPJ testifies on Turkey’s press freedom record after failed coup attempt
CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova today testified before the Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats Subcommittee of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, at the hearing, “Turkey after the July Coup Attempt.”
Remembering Pavel Sheremet, IPFA honoree, friend to CPJ, and hard-nosed journalist
Pavel Sheremet, who died yesterday when a bomb blew up the car he was driving in Kiev, was a CPJ International Press Freedom awardee in 1998. At the awards ceremony in the glittery Waldorf-Astoria Hotel that November, Sheremet was a no show.
Kyrgyzstan must free jailed journalist Azimjon Askarov, UN committee says
In a milestone decision announced today in Geneva, the U.N. Human Rights Committee called on Kyrgyzstan to immediately release Azimjon Askarov, a journalist sentenced to life in prison in September 2010. The U.N. body issued its decision after reviewing a complaint filed in November 2012 by Askarov’s lawyer, Nurbek Toktakunov, and a team of experts…