Articles Written By: Lindsay Ross

2024 Press Freedom Index Published

The RSF 2024 Press Freedom Index has been published, showing that political pressure is now the most significant contributor to press intimidation and attacks of any of the five key indicators used to compile the rankings. Full details can be found on RSF's website by clicking here. The highest ranking Commonwealth country is Canada at 14 of 180 ranked and the lowest is Bangladesh at 165.Read more

Private media outlet Class Media Group firebombed in Ghana

Authorities in Ghana should swiftly and comprehensively conclude their investigation of the April 25 firebomb attack on Class Media Group’s office, hold those responsible to account, and ensure that journalists at the media outlet can work safely, said the Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday. On April 25, four unidentified men on two motorbikes threw petrol bombs inside the privately owned Class Media Group’s office in the Labone district of Ghana’s capital Accra, and fled the scene, according to media reports and Class Media Group Operations Officer Theodore Edwards, who spoke to CPJ by phone.  Class…Read more

Pakistani TV anchor Hamid Mir gets death threats after speaking up for press freedom

Pakistani authorities must swiftly and impartially investigate death threats and online harassment targeting prominent television anchor Hamid Mir and ensure his safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. Mir, who hosts the flagship political show “Capital Talk” on Geo News and has survived at least two previous assassination attempts, told CPJ that he had received multiple death threats on social media and warnings that his life was in danger from two journalists familiar with the situation. Mir had reported the threats to the police last week in the capital, Islamabad, but they…Read more

Zambian police detain 2 journalists, make them delete interviews with opposition

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday called on Zambian authorities to thoroughly investigate a police assault on journalist Rodgers Mwiimba and his two-hour detention, alongside a second journalist, Innocent Phiri. On April 13, police officers arrested the two television journalists at Matanda Grounds, a public space in the town of Kafue, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the capital, Lusaka, where the opposition United Kwacha Alliance planned to hold a political rally, according to news reports and the two journalists, who spoke with CPJ. Authorities banned the rally on the grounds that the recently formed opposition…Read more

Police investigate Nigeria’s Foundation for Investigative Journalism after corruption coverage

Nigerian authorities should immediately drop their investigation into the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) and its founder, the award-winning undercover reporter, Fisayo Soyombo, and stop intimidating the chairperson of FIJ’s board of trustees, Bukky Shonibare, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On February 21, Soyombo published an investigation detailing how he had smuggled rice into Nigeria with the collusion of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) officials and accused local businessman Ibrahim Dende Egungbohun of being a smuggler. FIJ’s accompanying documentary was also broadcast by Arise News. On February 26, Egungbohun’s lawyer, David Olaoluwa Folalu, petitioned the police,…Read more

Malawian journalist Macmillan Mhone facing false news, extortion charges

Malawian authorities should drop all legal proceedings against Nation Publications Limited journalist Macmillan Mhone, who is accused of cyber spamming, publishing false news, and extortion, and ensure that journalists can work without the fear of arrest, said the Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday. On April 7, Chester Chikumbutso Doba, a detective in the Malawi Police Service’s Cyber Crime Unit, summoned Mhone to appear for questioning the following day at a police station in the commercial capital of Blantyre, according to a statement by the Malawi chapter of the regional press freedom group Media Institute of…Read more

Pakistani journalist Jam Saghir Ahmed Lar shot dead in Punjab

  • Posted on March 26, 2024
  • /Under Shooting
Pakistani authorities must thoroughly investigate the killing of journalist Jam Saghir Ahmed Lar and ensure that his murderers are brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On March 14, Lar, a correspondent for the Daily Khabrain newspaper and contributor to local news outlets in the city of Khanpur in central Punjab province, was fatally shot by three unidentified assailants, according to media reports and CPJ’s review of a copy of the first information report (FIR), a document which opens an investigation. “Pakistan authorities must swiftly and transparently investigate the killing of journalist Jam…Read more

Armed men take Nigerian journalist Segun Olatunji from Lagos home

The Nigerian military should swiftly and publicly account for the whereabouts of First News editor Segun Olatunji, who was taken by armed men identifying themselves as officers with the army, disclose any charges against him, and ensure his safety, said the Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday. On March 15, around 15 armed men in two unmarked vans arrived at Olatunji’s home in Alagbado, a community in Nigeria’s western Lagos state. The men, two of whom wore military-style uniforms, introduced themselves as officers of the Nigerian army and forced Olatunji to come with…Read more

Journalist Md Shofiuzzaman Rana arrested, 5 correspondents confined in Bangladesh government office

Bangladesh authorities must immediately drop all charges against journalist Md Shofiuzzaman Rana and investigate the harassment of five journalists in northern Lalmonirhat district, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Rana was held in jail for a week after police arrested the journalist on March 5. Rana, who works for the Bangla-language newspaper Desh Rupantor, was arrested at a local government office in the northern Sherpur district after he filed a right to information (RTI) application regarding a government-run development program, according to news reports, the local press freedom group Bangladeshi Journalists in International Media, and Mustafa Mamun,…Read more

Indian journalist Ashutosh Negi arrested for reporting on murder investigation

Indian authorities must drop the charges against journalist Ashutosh Negi, who was arrested in connection with his reporting on a murder investigation in the northern state of Uttarakhand, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. Negi, editor of the weekly Hindi newspaper Jago Uttarakhand, was arrested on March 5 from his home in Pauri town, 94 miles (151 kilometers) from the state capital of Dehradun, according to multiple news outlets and his lawyer, Navnish Negi (no relation), who spoke to CPJ by phone. Although Negi was released on bail on Wednesday, he faces accusations under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled…Read more