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Latest Press Freedom Features

Press Freedom Withers in the Arab Spring
Thursday, 13 Oct 2011
Hadi al-Mahdi, murdered in Baghdad.

Whatever its long-term impact on the cause of liberty and democracy, the Arab Spring movement has been bad news for press freedom.  To nobody's surprise, countries still cracking down on their uprisings continue, often viciously, to oppress journalists trying to cover the protests....

Judge Refuses to Punish CIA for Destroying Torture Tapes
Wednesday, 10 Aug 2011

In a major setback for freedom of information, transparency, and accountability of government, a U.S. Federal judge has allowed the CIA to defy his own order and destroy 92 videotapes showing terrorist suspects being tortured.

Freedom of the Press Committee Changing of the Guard
Wednesday, 29 Jun 2011
Report of the FOP Committee for June 2011

After 15 years as co-chair I am stepping down, and after 10 years on the committee, so is Jeremy Main. Between now and the end of summer a small group will work on a blueprint for the Club’s press freedom activities and will explore several ideas, among them that the chair of...

One Month in an Arab Spring
Monday, 23 May 2011
Wave of labor protests in Khuzestan.

Report of the OPC Freedom of the Press Committee for May 2011: During the “Arab spring,” journalists covering the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East have faced daunting challenges and physical danger. More than 450 reporters, photographers and broadcasters had been...

More Than 450 Journalists Attacked During 'Arab Spring'
Wednesday, 04 May 2011
"Arab spring" uprisings

Journalists covering the ongoing "Arab spring" uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East face a daunting challenge. By the count of the CPJ, more than 450 reporters, photographers and broadcasters have been attacked, and 12 have been killed. Dozens have been arrested, and many have been...

Tweets From the Revolution
Tuesday, 26 Apr 2011
Photojournalists Guy Martin, left, and Dominic Nahr take cover behind a wall as

A former journalism teacher in Cairo had a front row seat to the uprising as his former students gave him daily, sometimes hourly, updates from Tahrir Square via their phones and computers.

Freedom of the Press: The Courage to Show Up
Tuesday, 26 Apr 2011
Sri Lankan demonstrators protest the disappearance of cartoonist and columnist P

What impresses the members of the OPC's press-freedom committee is the day-in, day-out commitment, the physical bravery of reporters and editors in countries where earthquakes seldom happen and governments are at least technically legitimate. By showing the courage to turn up each morning they...

Two Cuban Journalists Released
Thursday, 24 Feb 2011
Freed journalist Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez embraces his wife, Laura Pollán.

Two journalists arrested in the 2003 crackdown on dissidents were released in February.  Iván Hernández Carrillo, 39, was released on parole after nearly eight years in jail on a 25-year sentence.

A Libyan Battle Fought in New Media
Thursday, 24 Feb 2011
Protests against Gaddafi's rule have prompted harsh reprisals in several cities,

While Al-Jamahiriya, the Libyan state-owned TV channel, broadcast patriotic songs and rowdy rallies supporting el-Qaddafi, Al Jazeera showed images of angry Libyan demonstrators throwing shoes at a giant street screen carrying live pictures of Colonel Qaddafi's speech.

Guernica: The Wrong Question on Torture
Wednesday, 29 Dec 2010
Journalist Joshua E. S. Phillips

It was journalist Joshua E. S. Phillips's fascination with the case of Juan Romagoza Arce and with human rights abuses in El Salvador in 1980, that led to his latest book, None of Us Were Like This Before: American Soldiers and Torture, in which he argues that we've all...