Committee to Protect Journalists 2008 Annual Report www.cpj.org Mission The Committee to Protect Journalists works to promote press freedom worldwide. We take action when journalists are censored, jailed, kidnapped, or killed for their efforts to tell the truth. In our defense of journalists, CPJ protects the right of all people to have access to diverse and independent sources of information. CPJ has been a leading voice in the global press freedom movement since its founding in 1981. We defend journalists and news organizations without regard to political ideology. To maintain our independence, CPJ accepts no government funding. We are supported entirely by private contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations. Brian Frank/CPJ Brian ing to CPJ research. Most of these journalists were not killed by an errant bullet on the battlefield but were deliberately targeted for their reporting. Even in war zones, murder is the leading cause of death for journal- ists. And in the vast majority of cases—more than 85 percent—the killers go free. With these grim statistics in mind, CPJ launched its Global Campaign Against Impunity to bring the killers of journalists to justice. The campaign’s initial focus is on Russia and the Philippines—two countries that are among the world’s deadliest for journalists and among the worst in solving these murders. Already we are be- From the Executive Director ginning to see results, with investigative and judicial action in several high-profile cases selected by CPJ for Dear Friends: sustained advocacy and attention. This report covers a tumultuous year for the me- CPJ has also mounted wide-ranging campaigns to dia industry and for press freedom worldwide. There free imprisoned journalists in China and Cuba. Togeth- are, however, some indications of progress. In 2008, er, these two countries held 49 journalists in prison at the numbers of journalists killed and imprisoned both the end of 2008, nearly 40 percent of the global total. dropped for the first time since the war on terror was For the first time, Internet journalists represented the launched in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks largest professional category on CPJ’s annually pub- on the United States. lished imprisoned list. Forty-five percent of all journal- Forty-one journalists died in 2008, down notably ists jailed worldwide are bloggers, Web-based reporters, from previous years. The decline was largely attrib- or online editors—reflecting both the challenges and utable to the sharp drop in the number of journalists opportunities new technologies bring. That figure is killed in Iraq, which was consistent with an overall im- likely to increase as long as expanded Internet access provement in security conditions there. is not accompanied by corresponding media reforms Nevertheless, Iraq remains the deadliest conflict or political liberalization in countries like Cuba, China, for journalists since CPJ started keeping records in 1981. Vietnam, and Egypt. In fact, Iraq may be the deadliest conflict for journalists The good news is that CPJ’s work is making a dif- in history, with the number of media fatalities easily ference, even in countries with seemingly intractable topping estimates for both Vietnam and World War II. problems for the press. Our proudest moments come By December 2008, CPJ had documented the cases of when journalists tell us that CPJ helped free them from 136 journalists and 51 media support workers killed in unjust imprisonment, forced officials to back down Iraq since the war began. The vast majority were Iraqi from efforts to intimidate them into silence, and literal- journalists, and most were targeted for assassination. ly saved their lives. You will find some of their stories in CPJ flew to Baghdad in May 2008 to meet with Iraqi the pages of this report. It is our great privilege to work journalists and foreign correspondents about the ongo- alongside these brave journalists, and to fight together ing security threats. We also met with U.S. military and for the right of all people to have the information they Iraqi government officials there and in the Iraqi Kurdish need to make crucial decisions about their lives, their region to raise press freedom concerns, including the communities, and our world. arbitrary detention and harassment of journalists. We continue to monitor the mounting number of attacks against journalists in Iraq, investigating the circum- stances behind each incident. We help Iraqi journalists under threat to reach safe refuge, and raise funds to pay for medical care for those injured during attacks. Over the last 15 years, about 500 journalists have Joel Simon been murdered in direct relation to their work, accord- Executive Director 1 Interview with the Chairman Veteran U.S. journalist Paul Steiger joined CPJ’s Board Has CPJ raised issues with the U.S. military regard- of Directors in 2003 and was elected its chairman in ing the treatment of journalists covering the wars 2005. A former managing editor of the Wall Street in Afghanistan and Iraq? Journal and vice president of Dow Jones & Co., Steiger CPJ has been very active in pushing against the is now the editor-in-chief and president of ProPublica, prolonged detention of journalists without charge. We a nonprofit news organization that produces investi- helped get Bilal Hussein of The Associated Press re- gative journalism in the public interest. leased, and helped get Al-Jazeera reporter Sami al-Haj released. We’ve also pressed hard on U.S. officials to try How did you get involved with CPJ? to make checkpoints less dangerous for journalists and What got me interested in CPJ were the various other civilians. times in which CPJ was helpful when our reporters were in distress. The first time I remember was in the What are some of the major press freedom 1980s, when Gerry Seib [then Middle East correspon- challenges within the U.S. now? dent and now assistant managing editor of the Wall The U.S. is still a place where journalists enjoy more Street Journal] was on a reporting trip in Iran. The Ira- freedom than almost anyplace else. But there have been nians decided that he was a spy, and they threw him in worrying incursions into that freedom in recent years, jail. CPJ was a big help in getting the Journal through from two sources. One is government officials who are that and helping get him out. trying to shut down the flow of confidential and clas- But what is really very vivid in my memory is, sified information. Increasingly we’ve seen efforts, in- in 2002, when [Wall Street Journal reporter] Danny cluding at the federal level, to try to use the threat of Pearl was kidnapped and ultimately murdered. And jail or actual jail to squeeze information out of report- while we were trying to do anything we could to help ers. Ostensibly this is to support an important investi- get Danny freed, I was visited by the then-chairman gation, but I think with an additional agenda of trying of CPJ and the then-executive director who came to to intimidate journalists and trying to intimidate their my office and offered to help. And the help was very sources. The second avenue is private litigation, where practical—I mean, it wasn’t just “we’re here for you” some courts have shown a disturbing willingness to al- kind of thing. You know, in the end it didn’t work out, low private litigators to demand reporters’ sources. In and Danny was killed, but it brought home to me how both cases, this is the exception rather than the rule. important CPJ is. But it looks to me like it’s a growing trend. Are the dangers facing journalists covering inter- Where has CPJ advocacy made a difference? national terrorism and conflict in places like Pak- A few years ago, CPJ did a report that said the Phil- istan, Afghanistan, and Iraq different from the ippines was the most dangerous place [in the world] for dangers journalists have navigated in the past? a journalist. At first the Philippine government denied There’s no question that the world has changed— it, but then we showed them the statistics and they saw that it has become much more dangerous to be a jour- that it was not possible to deny it. And as a result, they nalist, particularly in areas of conflict. Because in- started to take steps to end impunity for those who stead of being regarded as messengers who can help would kill journalists in the Philippines. get their views publicity, a lot of insurgents of various Another example is China, where we have been keep- sorts now feel that the best way to impact the public ing the pressure on for a couple of years now to try to get is through visible violence—and violence against jour- Beijing to live up to the promises it made when it got the nalists is one of the most visible mechanisms around. Olympic Games to allow freer access for journalists. We And so, whereas in the past if you had a press badge take that to mean all journalists—not just foreign jour- or a press symbol of some sort, it tended to protect nalists but Chinese journalists too. We try not to lecture you, now it can be a magnet for murder. but try simply to point out the values of having a free 2 AFP/Peter Parks AFP/Peter “We are trying to get China to live up to the promises it made,” says Steiger, shown here presenting CPJ’s special report on press restrictions in China at a crowded news conference in Beijing.