Press Releases

New York, May 23, 2013--With the release of a new report on widespread impunity, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the incoming government of Pakistan to urgently address the issue of violence against the press by bringing perpetrators of past crimes to justice. 

"Pakistan has one of the world's worst records of prosecuting anti-press violence, with authorities failing to convict a single suspect in 23 journalist murders over the past decade," said CPJ Asia program coordinator, Bob Dietz. "The situation is dire as journalists are targeted not only by militants, criminals, and warlords, but also by political, military, and intelligence operatives. These threats have gone completely unpunished over the past decade and have made the country one of the deadliest in the world for the press."

New York, May 8, 2013--At least 40 Iranian journalists were behind bars on April 15, 2013, as authorities intensified a crackdown on the independent media ahead of the June presidential elections, a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists has found. According to the analysis, Iran is the second leading jailer of journalists in the world.

CPJ Impunity Index: Nigeria enters ranking; Somalia, Pakistan, Brazil and Mexico persist

New York, May 2, 2013--Unpunished, deadly violence continues to plague the press globally and has notably increased in Nigeria, according to the 2013 Impunity Index, the Committee to Protect Journalists' annual ranking of countries where journalists are murdered regularly and their killers go free.

"In countries where authorities fail to deliver justice in the killing of journalists, the result is more killings, while journalists try to survive by exercising self-censorship," said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. "Nigeria's entry on the index suggests that violence is beginning to limit coverage of crucial issues, posing a grave threat to the country's democracy. The government must exert the necessary political will to solve these crimes."

Film screening & discussion with Jon Stewart

New York, April 26, 2013--As Iran nears elections in June, the government has renewed its assault on the local press with arrests, prosecutions, and harassment, according to research by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

New York, March 11, 2013--China's new leaders will face unprecedented challenges to controlling the media, even as journalists' efforts to test the system continue to carry great risk, according to a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

CPJ's report, "Challenged in China: The shifting dynamics of censorship and control," finds that cracks in Beijing's Great Firewall are countered by legal risks for journalists and Internet users. Despite prolific online criticism of the government and citizen reports that contradict official lines, China's vague legal language means anyone may unknowingly cross a forbidden line and be vulnerable to prosecution. China is still one of the world's worst jailers of journalists, and published material has been marshaled as many as 10 years later to sentence a writer to prison. 

New York, February 14, 2013--An unprecedented rise in the number of journalists killed and imprisoned in the past year coupled with restrictive legislation and state censorship is jeopardizing independent reporting in many countries, according to Attacks on the Press, a yearly assessment of global press freedom released today by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

New York, December 18, 2012--Combat-related deaths in Syria and targeted murders in Somalia, Pakistan, and Brazil are the driving forces behind a sharp rise in press fatalities in 2012, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists' year-end analysis of journalists killed in the line of duty.

New York, December 11, 2012--The number of journalists imprisoned worldwide reached a record high this year, a trend driven primarily by terrorism and other anti-state charges levied against critical reporters and editors, according to a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

New York, December 6, 2012--An average of 30 journalists are murdered each year in direct reprisal for their work, and the perpetrators are almost never brought to justice. To fight impunity in press killings, the Committee to Protect Journalists has launched Speak Justice: Voices Against Impunity, a new digital platform to help break the cycle of fear and censorship.

New York, November 21, 2012--Four fearless journalists from Brazil, China, Kyrgyzstan, and Liberia were honored Tuesday evening at the Committee to Protect Journalists' 22nd International Press Freedom Awards benefit dinner, an annual recognition of courageous journalism, hosted by PBS senior correspondent Gwen Ifill.