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CPJ Insider: February 2023 edition
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Barrister Amal Clooney (left) and her client, Nobel laureate Maria Ressa (right), at CPJ’s headquarters in New York last September. (CPJ)
Maria Ressa acquitted on spurious charges: A Q&A with Senior Southeast Asia Representative Shawn W. Crispin
A Philippine Court of Tax Appeals in January acquitted Nobel laureate and CPJ’s 2018 Gwen Ifill Award winner Maria Ressa of tax evasion in four of seven cases brought by the government against her and the news organization she founded, Rappler. For this issue of Insider, we spoke with CPJ’s Bangkok-based Senior Southeast Asia Representative Shawn W. Crispin about Maria’s case–and how CPJ has helped. Learn more »
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 2022: A deadly year for journalists
With the highest number of journalists killed since 2018 and a nearly 50% increase from 2021, last year was particularly deadly for journalists all over the world. In a report published recently, CPJ found that at least 67 journalists and media workers were killed in 2022. Learn more »
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Must-reads
CPJ’s Director of Special Projects and former Executive Director Robert Mahoney penned an opinion piece in response to former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s memoir, which referred to Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi as a partisan “activist” and not a journalist. “Pompeo must know that dictators like to blur the distinction between journalism and activism,” Mahoney writes, “In many countries, merely asking a probing question of a powerful political leader or businessperson can be viewed as hostile.”
CPJ sent a letter sharing concern over the changes in policy at Twitter to the platform’s executive team. The letter, jointly issued with Reporters Without Borders, refers to a deterioration of human rights standards and the dissolution of Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council, the letter notes that “No one wants to be on a social media platform that endangers or censors them. [...] Twitter must play a constructive role in ensuring that journalists and the public at large are able to receive and impart information without fear of reprisal."
In a briefing on a proposed UK online safety bill, CPJ’s Consultant Technology Editor Madeline Earp writes that the proposed legislation could censor immigration reporting. The bill would force social platforms to remove content that doesn’t depict immigration in “a positive light” and, some worry, “exclude legitimate reporting or boost disinformation.” Worse, “the law could open the door to surveillance of journalists and their confidential source communications, not just in the U.K., but worldwide.”
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CPJ in the news
“Martinez Zogo, popular Cameroon radio journalist, found dead after reported abduction,” CBS News
“Critics say a new media law signed by Zelensky could restrict press freedom in Ukraine,” The New York Times
“A Black 'Wall Street Journal' reporter was detained while working outside a bank,” NPR
“Journalists say Elon Musk needs to reinstitute monitoring of Twitter,” VOA
“'I will be a journalist until the end,’” Bangkok Post
“Authorities in Tigray release 3 journalists, 2 others remain in detention,” Journal du Cameroun
“Nobel laureate Maria Ressa cleared by Philippine court of tax evasion,” CNN
“The Arab world’s rulers have turned journalists into courtiers,” The Economist
“Media watchdog CPJ asks Pakistan to unconditionally release journalist Shahid Aslam,” The Print
“Journalist deaths jumped 50% in 2022, led by Ukraine, Mexico,” The Associated Press
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