CPJ’s annual assessment of press freedom worldwide

New York, February 12, 2014-Digital surveillance, the unchecked murder of journalists, and indirect commercial and political pressures on the media are three of the primary threats to press freedom highlighted in the Committee to Protect Journalists annual assessment, Attacks on the Press, released today.

«The primary battlegrounds for press freedom used to be contained within the borders of authoritarian states. While those battles continue, new technologies have made it possible to realize the right to freedom of expression regardless of frontiers,» said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. «Attacks on the Press describes the threats and explores strategies to safeguard the free flow information.»

Three pieces in this year’s Attacks, including a foreword to the print edition by Jacob Weisberg, analyze the damaging effects to press freedom caused by the U.S. mass surveillance programs. Governments’ capacity to store transactional data and the content of communications undermines journalists’ ability to protect sources. The scope of the NSA’s digital spying raises doubts about the U.S. commitment to freedom of expression and strengthens the hand of China and other restrictive nations in their calls for more government control over the Internet.

A separate essay in Attacks argues that the international community should put press freedom at the heart of a new anti-poverty strategy as the 2015 target nears for the U.N. Millennium Development Goals. Meanwhile, if transparency in the financial sector is not improved, more global financial crises can be expected.

Attacks also explores how the inability to solve journalist murders feeds an atmosphere of intimidation, compounded by the targeted killings of witnesses in many cases.

Along with the print edition of Attacks on the Press, CPJ published online a snapshot of conditions and data in close to 60 countries. Syria remained the most deadly place for journalists on the job in 2013, while Iraq and Egypt each saw a spike in fatal violence. In total 70 journalists lost their lives. For the second consecutive year, Turkey was the world’s leading jailer of journalists, followed closely by Iran and China.

Attacks on the Press was first published in 1986. The 2014 edition features analyses by CPJ and global experts on: Beijing’s influence on the Hong Kong and Taiwanese press; Syrian journalists’ striving to report, despite the dangers; the insistence on «positive news» in sub-Saharan Africa; finding the courage to cover sexual violence; Nelson Mandela’s legacy; and much more. CPJ’s Risk List highlights the 10 places where press freedom deteriorated the most in 2013.

Attacks also includes the late CPJ Mexico correspondent Mike O’Connor’s last piece for CPJ, «Gunmen Rule Neza and the Press on Outskirts of Mexico City.» O’Connor died suddenly in late December.

The print edition with foreword by Weisberg, chairman of the Slate Group and member of CPJ’s board of directors, is published by Bloomberg Press, an imprint of Wiley, and is available for purchase.

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CPJ is an independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide

Note to editors:

Attacks on the Press is available online in English and with regional sections in Arabic, French, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish. For social media CPJ suggests using the hashtag #AttacksOnPress.

Media contacts:

Magnus Ag
Advocacy & Communications Officer
Tel. +1.212.300.9029
E-mail: mag@cpj.org

Samantha Libby
Communications Associate
Tel: +1.212.300.9032
Email: slibby@cpj.org

Link: http://cpj.org/2014/02/attacks-on-the-press-in-2013.php

Media professionals worldwide can apply for a fellowship.

The fellowship program, sponsored by the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI), invites proposals from people who have innovative ideas to improve the practice or understanding of journalism.

Because of the current acute financial challenges to supporting quality journalism, RJI is particularly interested in ideas on how to connect citizens with news and advertising more efficiently, to grow revenues, to engage communities or to ensure that the industry is taking full advantage of new and emerging technologies.

RJI welcomes applications from individuals, inside and outside the media industries.

The institute offers residential, non-residential and institutional fellowships. Residential fellows spend eight months on the Missouri campus, taking advantage of the intellectual and technological resources of RJI and the University and interacting with Missouri faculty and students. These fellows receive a US$10,000 monthly stipend totaling US$80,000, plus a one-time US$10,000 housing allowance.

Non-residential fellowships are designed for employees of a news, technology or related company who have ideas they can develop while continuing in their jobs. These fellows receive a US$20,000 stipend for the year, paid in US$2,500 monthly installments.

The US$20,000 institutional fellowship stipend is paid to the company or institution and can be used to hire a freelancer or temporary contractor to fill in for an employee as needed or for other project needs.

The deadline is Feb. 15.

For more information, click here: http://rjionline.org/fellowship

ALMATY, Kazakhstan — The trial against an independent Kazakh newspaper has started in Almaty. 

«Pravdivaya gazeta» (The Truthful Newspaper) is charged with providing readers with false information about the exact number of its weekly copies, operating during a court-ruled suspension period, and for its failure to adequately address the violations.

The editors of the periodical, which is known for its harsh criticism of the Kazakh authorities, insist the charges are politically motivated.

The newspaper was established nine months ago and has gone through two three-month suspensions and two hefty fines since then.

Last year, the European Parliament adopted a resolution criticizing Astana for its failure to respect political, media, and religious freedoms.

http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakhstan-trial-newspaper/25259216.html

Journalists who are interested in investigating tax avoidance, corruption, money laundering and asset recovery can apply for this course in London.

The Tax Justice Network and the Centre of Investigative Journalism are offering a training workshop “Introduction to Illicit Finance, Financial Secrecy and Asset Recovery.” The course will take place on April 8 — 11 at City University London.

The course is bringing together journalists primarily from the developing world where corruption, tax havens and harmful tax practices often stall development and entrench poverty.

Experience in financial reporting is an advantage but not a prerequisite.

The bursary for journalists from the developing countries will cover visa fees, travel, accommodation and daily allowance. Applicants will be selected based on their track record in investigative journalism.

The course fee for journalists from UK and Europe is GBP650.

The deadline is Jan. 30.

For more information, click here: http://www.tcij.org/courses/course-calendar/introduction-illicit-finance-financial-secrecy-and-asset-recovery

Turkmenistan has been called an isolationist state and a «hermit kingdom» for many reasons, but one reason is surely the difficulty of getting objective information from the country.

One of the correspondents from RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service, Radio Azatlyk — Ogulsapar Muradova — died in prison in September 2006, apparently as a result of being severely beaten. In November 2003, Azatlyk correspondent Saparmurat Ovezberdiev was forced into a vehicle, taken to a cemetery outside Ashgabat, beaten, and dumped beside the road. And then there are all those Azatlyk correspondents detained and arrested over the last 20 years.

But Azatlyk is still working and still has correspondents in Turkmenistan trying to report on what is happening inside the country, Authorities there haven’t done anything to make that easy.

All the incidents cited below happened between mid-December 2013 and late January 2014.

First, Azatlyk’s correspondents are well aware of the situation and the rules in Turkmenistan: You don’t look for information that would make the government look bad, and if you happen to obtain such information you run a big risk in making it known to the outside world.

But some topics are fair game and social problems are possible to report about, even though, as we will see, the boundaries are not well defined.

An attempt to report on long ticket lines at the train station in the southern city of Mary resulted in an Azatlyk correspondent spending two-and-a-half hours at a local police station.

The correspondent was filming the line to purchase tickets, not any other part of the train station. When police approached him, he identified himself as a correspondent for Azatlyk and explained his purpose. At the station, agents from the organized crime and counterterrorism department joined police in questioning the correspondent. In the end the film was deleted and the correspondent was advised not to film in areas that are considered to be strategic facilities.

Another story involved another long line — this time automobiles waiting to undergo mandatory vehicle inspections in the eastern part of the country. Official certification of a vehicle is important for car owners because, with it, they can claim their free allotment of gasoline, so people must endure queuing.

An Azatlyk correspondent wanted to do a report on the long wait for certification and started filming the scene on their cell phone. Police spotted this journalistic activity and moved in, taking the Azatlyk correspondent to the local police where two agents from the organized crime and counterterrorism department also took part in questioning that lasted some six hours. In the end, the phone, with all the pictures deleted, was returned along with the reporter’s personal documents.

An Azatlyk correspondent in Ashgabat went to cover police evicting people from their basement apartments. As the correspondent was filming someone started pulling on the camera from behind, not to take it, but simply to disrupt filming. The camera was damaged. The culprit turned out to be a policeman. The correspondent later went to the police station to confront the person responsible for damaging the camera. The policeman apologized, but did not offer to replace the device.

The anniversary of Goekdepe was January 12. It commemorates the 1881 massacre of Turkmen by Russian forces at Goekdepe and has been marked in Turkmenistan since it became independent after the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

It is a big event and state media covers it every year, but not Azatlyk this year. An Azatlyk correspondent attending ceremony at Goekdepe tried to film prayers being said but a man moved alongside and continually jostled the correspondent so it was impossible to film. An argument broke out and the Azatlyk correspondent was hustled out of the hall where the ceremony was being held.

Turkmenistan held parliamentary elections in December. Western organizations, such as the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), sent teams to watch (not monitor officially) Turkmenistan’s elections.

The OSCE people gave press conferences and made some critical comments about the conduct of campaigning and elections. The Azatlyk correspondent going to cover one such event was stopped by security and detained for nearly three hours before being released to catch the very end of the press conference.

There’s more, but that probably gives a good enough picture of what it’s like to try to report from Turkmenistan.

It’s hardly boasting to note that RFE/RL has correspondents reporting from very dangerous places and often these people are risking their lives to get valuable information out to the public.

Turkmenistan does not receive as much attention as many of these other places, but the commitment and hardship of Azatlyk correspondents is not less than that of their colleagues in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

— Muhammad Tahir, Bruce Pannier

http://www.rferl.org/content/turkmenistan-reporting-azatlyk-difficulties/25257448.html

Journalists from Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan can apply for a scholarship to study at Polish universities.

The Lane Kirkland Scholarships includes two semesters of study at Polish universities and a two- to four-week professional internship in public and private institutions.

The program is aimed at young leaders with master’s of art degrees determined to be actively involved in the development of democracy, economy and civil society in their countries and the region.

Knowledge of Polish or English and at least two years of professional experience are required.

The deadline is March 1.

For more information click here: http://www.kirkland.edu.pl/en/program-announcement-2014

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Tajik authorities to release opposition leader Zayd Saidov from prison «pending an independent review of the case.» 

A court convicted Saidov of charges ranging from bigamy and rape to fraud and bribery on December 25 and sentenced him to 26 years in prison.

Charges against Saidov first surfaced after he declared in April 2013 that he planned to form a political party that would focus on economic reforms.

Saidov said at that time that he did not intend to run for president in the election that was held in November.

In a statement issued on February 7, Steve Swerdlow of the New York-based rights watchdog said, «Saidov’s conviction starkly illustrates that the Tajik government will neither accept criticism nor the role of opposition parties in a democratic society.»

http://www.rferl.org/content/tajikistan-hrw-saidov/25257063.html

ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Three independent bloggers in Kazakhstan have been sentenced to 10 days in jail on minor hooliganism charges. 

Rinat Kibraev, Nurali Aitelenov, and Dmitry Shchyolokov were not allowed to attend a meeting between Almaty Mayor Akhmetzhan Esimov and selected Kazakh bloggers on February 5.

Police said that the three were not on the guest list.

They were also prevented from filming the restaurant where Esimov was holding the meeting.

The independent bloggers then unfolded posters saying «Esimov! Come Out!» and «Esimov Talks To Tamed Bloggers Only!»

Police detained the bloggers at the scene.

RFE/RL correspondent Madi Bekmaghambet, who was filming the incident, was also detained but later released.

http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakhstan-bloggers-jailed-/25255095.html

A weeklong event on all things social media will be held in Bangalore, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Lagos, Milan, New York and Tokyo.

Social Media Week (SMW) features free events surrounding the latest trends and topics in social and mobile media.

Each year, SMW attracts more than 60,000 attendees across thousands of individually organized events, with half a million connecting to the conference online and through mobile.

SMW takes place Feb. 17-21.

For more information, click here: http://socialmediaweek.org/