PHOTO: Egyptian photojournalist Shawkan, imprisoned since 2013, was released in March but must still check in daily with police–and is sometimes detained overnight. CPJ advocated for years for Shawkan’s release and continues to call on Egyptian authorities to end this harassment. (Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)
Today, Friday May 3, 2019 is being observed globally as World Press Freedom Day.
According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ),
at least 251 journalists were imprisoned globally in 2018 for reporting the news, CPJ found, with three countries—Turkey, China, and Egypt—holding more than half of the total number.
CPJ’s Executive Director Joel Simon says this day “serves as a grim reminder of the challenges that journalists face around the world.”
At least 54 journalists were killed last year, including Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul in October.
CPJ has documented another 60 journalists who remain missing. One of them, Tanzanian freelance journalist, Azory Gwanda, was last seen in November 2017. His wife believes his disappearance could be linked to his reporting on killings in the region.
Meanwhile, journalists are being threatened, censored, and attacked all over the world. In the United States, at least three reporters were detained while covering protests in Sacramento, while others were singled out by border authorities and questioned about their work.
And in Venezuela, where violent clashes led to the government closing its border with Colombia in February, journalists were assaulted while reporting on protests.
This week, following a call by opposition leader Juan Guaidó to rise up against the president, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets. Some news outlets, including CNN and BBC, reported being blocked in the country.
“But this is why we do what we do. CPJ believes that journalists everywhere have the right to report the news so that you can make informed decisions about your lives,” Simon adds.