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CPJ Insider: February edition
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Clark County district attorney Steve Wolfson speaks to members of the media in Las Vegas, Nevada as law enforcement agents sought to search slain journalist Jeff German's devices, potentially exposing confidential sources. (AFP//Ethan Miller)
PRESS Act passes U.S. House unanimously in a win for press freedom
The PRESS Act, which unanimously passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on January 19, would create federal protections for journalists’ sources. With the bill now in the U.S. Senate, we spoke with CPJ U.S. and Canada Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen about the bill and what it means for press freedom in the United States. Learn more »
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 CPJ releases annual prison census showing 320 journalists behind bars
CPJ released its annual prison census, which documented 320 journalists behind bars. The number was the second-highest recorded since CPJ’s prison census began in 1992 – a disturbing barometer of entrenched authoritarianism and the vitriol of governments determined to smother independent voices. Learn more »
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Must-read
CPJ spoke via video call with Sandya Ekneligoda, wife of abducted Sri Lankan journalist and government critic Prageeth Ekneligoda, who has been missing for 14 years. A cartoonist and columnist, his disappearance happened just days prior to the election that gave incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa a sweeping victory. “When others are talking about my Prageeth,” Ekneligoda told CPJ, “it means he is still living in people’s hearts.”
CPJ joined five other press freedom and human rights organizations in a letter calling on U.S. President Joe Biden to act immediately and decisively to promote the conditions for safe and unrestricted reporting in the Israel-Gaza war. “We believe your administration can and must do more to effectively pursue accountability for journalists killed in the hostilities and to protect and support local and international journalists covering it,” the letter states.
CPJ joined seven other international press freedom organizations in a joint report after a mission to Athens in September 2023. The report concluded that Greece “has undergone a sustained decline in the last few years, amidst the broad-daylight murder of a crime reporter, multiple threats to the safety of journalists, a sprawling surveillance and…legal threats against media and journalists, with detrimental consequences for Greek democracy."
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CPJ in the news
“A Deadly Year for Journalists,” WNYC
“The Impossibility of Reporting the Story of Gaza,” The Nation
“Israel Must Safeguard Journalists in Gaza,” Haaretz
“Israel’s War on Journalists in Gaza,” Democracy Now!
“CBC News Network's Deana Sumanac-Johnson speaks with the President of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Jodie Ginsberg on the growing number of media members killed during the Gaza war,” CBC News
“More than 300 journalists around the world imprisoned because of their work, report says,” The Associated Press
“Israel added to list of ‘worst jailers of journalists’ for first time,” The Guardian
“7 journalists behind bars in India, 5 charged under UAPA: CPJ,” NewsLaundry
“IAPA and CPJ mission analyzes "complex" situation of journalists in Guatemala,” La Nacion
“Committee to Protect Journalists releases annual prison census: Muthoki Mumo,” SABC News
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