By suing WikiLeaks, DNC could endanger principles of press freedom
In 1993, WILK radio host Frederick Vopper broadcast a conversation intercepted by an illegal wiretap and sent anonymously to the Pennsylvania radio station, in which two teachers union officials discussed violent negotiating tactics. The officials sued Vopper, arguing that he should be liable for the illegal wiretap that captured their comments. But the Supreme Court…
CPJ joins calls for Congress to make human rights a focus of Uzbek president’s US visit
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined a coalition of 11 other international press freedom and human rights advocacy groups, in calling on U.S. Congress to require lasting human rights protection in Uzbekistan during President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s first official visit to the U.S. on May 16 and 17.
People need to know why our journalists were arrested in Myanmar, Reuters tells CPJ
Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have spent nearly five months in detention in Myanmar, on charges of violating a colonial-era Official Secrets Act. At the time of their arrest in Yangon on December 12, the reporters were investigating a mass killing of Rohingya men by Buddhist villagers and Myanmar troops that took…
Joint report on press freedom in US details worsening media environment
Journalists and news organizations in the U.S. face a range of intensifying challenges that threaten their right to freedom of the press, according to a report launched today by international press freedom and free expression advocacy groups to mark World Press Freedom Day.
CPJ calls on European Council and European Commission to raise press freedom with Turkey
CPJ calls on the presidents of the European Council and European Commission to request the release of Turkish journalists as a matter of priority during a scheduled meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in Varna, Bulgari.
The president’s phantom threats
During his tumultuous campaign, Donald Trump declared war on the press, pledging to “open up our libel laws” and impose fines on critical journalists if elected. Within a month of taking office, he vowed to go after leakers, comparing them to Nazis, and urged then-FBI director James Comey to jail reporters who published classified information.…
Conditions deteriorate for foreign press in China, FCCC finds
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China annual survey, released this week, showed a steady deterioration of working conditions in China for the foreign press. The report, “Access Denied,” documented increased efforts by Chinese authorities to deny or restrict foreign correspondents’ access to large parts of the country in 2017. Increasingly, foreign ministry officials use China’s…
Russia designates nine U.S.-funded news outlets as foreign agents
New York, December 5, 2017–Russia’s Justice Ministry announced today that it has designated nine U.S. government-funded press outlets as “foreign agents,” under a newly expanded law, according to reports. The ministry named the outlets as the U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and seven of its affiliates, and Voice of America. Under the law, outlets…