Journalists in danger

April 17, 2009

Kidnapped in Somalia

Colin Freeman, the Chief foreign correspondent with the Daily Telegraph, talks to ABC News about what it’s like to be kidnapped in Somalia. I’ve posted a snippet of the discussion below. You can see Colin’s initial reaction upon release in the news report above. For a longer analysis of Somalia and what it’s like to […]


April 15, 2009

Call to lift Sri Lanka media ban

  Reporters without borders (RSF) called on the Sri Lankan government to lift the ban on media outlets from entering the war zone in the north east of the country. "It is a disgrace that this war is being waged without independent journalists present," Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said. "With a major humanitarian crisis […]


April 10, 2009

Flak jackets for Somali journalists

The National Union of Somali Journalists issued journalists with flack jackets and helmets at a ceremony at the Hotel Sahafi in the capital Mogadishu on Thursday. 20 journalists, both independent freelancers and staff reporters, were kitted out with the gear donated by the Doha Centre for Media Freedom, “These bulletproof jackets and helmets will improve […]


April 7, 2009

The Day of Killed Journalists

Turkey commemorated the 13th Day of Killed Journalists on Monday. 62 journalists have been killed in the country to date. To mark the day, journalists gathered at the grave of the first victim, Hasan Fehmi, the editor of Serbesti newspaper, who was killed in 1909, “We expect the facilities for journalists to be developed, and […]


April 2, 2009

Sri Lanka government to investigate journalists

The Sri Lankan government has appointed a Parliamentary Select Committee to investigate the work of journalists "who have been contributing articles detrimental to the interests of Sri Lanka to foreign Non Governmental Organizations", according to Sri Lanka Defence Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella. Government will reveal names of those Sri Lankan journalists in about a fortnight, […]


April 2, 2009

Freelance journalist missing in Zimbabwe

Kudzai Musengi, a freelance journalist based in Gweru, is missing according to an alert issued by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-Zimbabwe) today. Musengi failed to return home after normal working hours on 31 March and family and colleagues have not been able to contact him. MISA-Zimbabwe strongly appeals to the authorities and law […]


March 31, 2009

77 names added to wall of fallen journalists

The names of 62 journalists killed in 2008 and 15 killed in previous years have been added to a memorial wall at the Newseum in Washington D.C. that honours journalists killed doing the job of journalism. Iraq and Mexico were the deadliest places for journalists last year. 13 names from Iraq were added to the […]


March 31, 2009

Beverly Giesbrecht ransom offer rejected

  A ransom offered to the Taliban kidnappers of Beverly Giesbrecht has reportedly been rejected according to a report on the Globe & Mail newspaper. Giesbrecht, a Canadian freelance journalist who also goes by the name of Khadija Abdul Qahaar, was kidnapped four months ago in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The kidnappers […]


March 30, 2009

Somali journalist jailed for two years

Ayanle Jama Feyte, an online journalist working for the Lassqorey website who was arrested on March 26, has reportedly been jailed for two years by a court in Bossaso in the Puntland region of Somalia. He is charged with defamation under the “criminal code defamation to state administrative bodies” after he allegedly published a series […]


March 27, 2009

Journalist shot dead in Rawalpindi

Raja Asad Hameed, a senior reporter with the English Language daily The Nation in Pakistan, was shot dead last night in Rawalpindi, Unidentified armed men on Thursday night killed Raja Asad Hameed, senior reporter of a local English daily. The incident took place at 10pm, when the armed men came to Hameed’s house and rang […]


March 24, 2009

Insurance Without Borders from Reporters Without Borders

Reporters Without Borders announced an insurance plan for journalists working in war zones yesterday. The scheme, called Insurance Without Borders, is aimed at journalists who often travel at a moment’s notice. The insurance can be put into effect within 48 hours and does not require a medical questionnaire, To mark the anniversary of the War […]


March 23, 2009

The most dangerous places for journalists

  Iraq, Sierra Leone and Somalia are the most dangerous place for journalists according to the 2009 Imupunity index released by the Committee to Protect Journalists today. However, the report entitled Getting Away With Murder 2009, highlights worrying trends in South Asia, particularly in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, “We’re distressed to see justice worsen in […]


March 19, 2009

U.S. journalists detained in North Korea

Two U.S. journalists working on North Korean border with China near the Yalu river, on the western border, have been detained by North Korean military officials. The South Korean television station YTN quoted government officials as saying the two journalists were warned to stop filiming by North Korean guards. When these warnings were ignored, the […]


March 19, 2009

Taliban threaten to kill Beverly Geisbrecht

According to reports coming out of Pakistan the Taliban have threatened to kill Beverly Geisbrecht, the Canadian freelance journalist kidnapped in November 2008, if ransom demands are not met by March 30. Earlier this month a ransom demand of $375,000 was reportedly made. In a video taped message sent to the Miranshah Press Club earlier […]


March 16, 2009

The BBC “failed” Kate Peyton

Kate Peyton was gunned down outside the Sahafi hotel in Mogadishu in November, 2005. An inquest into her death was held in November, 2008. Charles Peyton, the brother of Kate, has asked us to publish this from him. The views contained below do not represent those of the Frontline Club, The BBC failed my sister, […]


March 13, 2009

$375,000 ransom demand for Beverly Giesbrecht

The Globe & Mail reports that a ransom demand of $375,000 has been made by the Taliban kidnappers of Beverly Giesbrecht who has been held hostage since November 2008. The paper says the demand came during an interview with a man calling himself Qari on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border who said only money would secure her […]


March 2, 2009

Philippine press attacks

In the latest attack on a journalist in the Philippines, Ronaldo Doong was attacked by two armed men while travelling on a highway in Colorado village in Digos City in the southern Philippines on Saturday. The brodcast journalist, who works for University of Mindanao’s Radyo Ukay, sustained bruises and cuts during the assault. The attackers […]


March 2, 2009

22 attacks on journalists in Cambodia

A report by the Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ) catalogues a series of 22 attacks against journalists in the south-east Asian country between 2008-2009. In addition the report slates unethical practices among journalists including bribery and corruption and those pretending to be journalists who are not, The press release urges the Ministry of Information to […]


February 26, 2009

Tamil editor abducted in Sri Lanka

Nadesapillai Vithyatharan, a senior Sri Lankan newspaper editor, was abducted by armed men in police uniform this morning, according to the Tamil Eelam News Services. The editor of both the Uthayan newspaper in Jaffna and the Colombo based Sudar Oli was attending the funeral of a friend on the Galle Road in Colombo when the […]


February 25, 2009

Working as a journalist in Iraq

The excellent Alive in Baghdad talks to Hassan Fadhel Allah al-Hussaini, the editor of the Rayat al-Arab newspaper, at his office in Baghdad. He talks about his newspaper, the assasination of former colleague Saad Mehdi Shalash, press freedom and the "miracle" of working life in Baghdad. Click the video above to play the interview, "All […]


February 24, 2009

The Kenji Nagai Award

The Kenji Nagai Award for Journalism was announced at the Burma Media Conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand this week. The Burma Media Association created the award to honour the Japanese video journalist who was killed on the streets of Rangoon by a Burmese soldier during the saffron revolution of September, 2007. The inaugral award goes […]


February 24, 2009

Kidnapped journalist on video

A videotape of Beverly Giesbrecht, a freelance journalist who was kidnapped almost three months ago in the Afghanistan/Pakistan border region, surfaced on Monday according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. The reporter, who also goes by the name of Khadija Abdul Qahaar and publishes Jihad Unspun, was kidnapped in November, 2008 in the Bannu district of […]


February 22, 2009

Six months and counting

Six months ago today the first reports came in of the kidnap of Canadian freelance journalist Amanda Lindhout, freelance photographer Nigel Brennan and their fixers and driver. The team were reportedly abducted just outside Mogadishu. The fixer and driver were subsequently released, but Lindhout and Brennan remain hostage. A ransom demand of $100,000 was recently […]


February 18, 2009

Kidnapped in Somalia

CNN International talk to Colin Freeman and José Cendón about their kidnap ordeal in Somalia. The duo were kidnapped on November 26, 2008 and held for some six weeks. The pair don’t appear to have feared for their lives and seem remarkedly relaxed about their experience, although it seems unlikely they’ll be heading back to […]


February 10, 2009

Attacks on the Press

The Committee to protect journalists launched Attacks on the Press 2008 today. The CPJ will be holding a press conference at the United Nations later to publicize the report. You can watch the livestream on the UN website at 9.30am EST Tuesday 10 February. Taking part will be, Joel Simon, CPJ Executive Director, Paul Steiger, […]


February 10, 2009

No Colombian journalists killed in 2008

According to the Foundation for Liberty and Freedom of the Press (FLIP), no Colombian journalists were killed in 2008 for the first time in 23 years, A total of 130 journalists were killed in Colombia in the past 30 years. The organisation notes that Colombian journalists are still regularly threatened by terrorist organisations. FLIP reports […]


February 10, 2009

Somalia kidnap row

Daud Abdi Daud, the General Secretary of the Somali Journalists Rights Agency (SOJRA), defends the report earlier this week of a possible escape attempt by kidnap victims Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan. The report was quickly dismissed by the Paris-based Reporters without borders, "I think [Reporters without borders] mean somebody in France can be more […]


February 7, 2009

Somalia kidnap victims tried to escape

There’s an unconfirmed report circulating that kidnapped journalists Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan tried to escape their Somali captors late last month. The allegation comes from a "prominent Somali contact for western journalists" Daud Abdi Daud, Executive Director of Somali Journalists Rights Agency says the pair, in his words, "came close to being killed" on […]


February 5, 2009

Salam al-Dosaki shot dead in Mosul

Salam al-Dosaki, a journalist with the al-Hadba newspaper in Mosul, Iraq, was shot dead by a policeman on Thursday afternoon, 5 February according to Reuters, Mohammed Yunis Mohammed, a Mosul policeman, had been drinking when he approached the home of neighbour Salam al-Dosaki, a journalist with the local al-Hadba newspaper, police said. An argument ensued […]


February 5, 2009

Unemployed in Tehran

Issa Saharkhiz talks about the difficulties of working as a journalist in Tehran to NPR. Or in his case, of not working. Saharkhiz tells NPR that every paper he’s ever worked on has been closed. Most recently, the Iranian authorities closed two popular publications he ran; the Daily Economic News and a monthly magazine called […]