For the fourth consecutive year, the Committee to Protect Journalists has counted at least 250 journalists imprisoned for their work around the world. Its annual global survey shows that China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt are the worst offenders, followed by Eritrea, Vietnam, and Iran. The beat most likely to land journalists in jail was politics, followed by human rights and corruption. CPJ found that while the majority of imprisoned journalists faced anti-state charges, a growing number have faced charges of “false news” in recent years.
Source: Committee to Protect Journalists
The Media Institute of the Caribbean (MIC), which is a GIJN member organization, has announced the launch of the Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network (CIJN). Kiran Maharaj, the MIC’s president, said: “This launch signifies a milestone in the region’s media industry as the first regional investigative journalism news network, which will feature long-form narratives of stories that impact the Caribbean.”
Source: Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network
Facing challenging times in Venezuela, three digital media outlets are joining forces to work together on investigative reporting. El Pitazo, Tal Cual, and Runrun.es have launched Alianza Rebelde Investiga (ARI, or “Rebel Alliance Investigates”). The three outlets already shared an advertising strategy, but they’ll now be working together on the editorial level. “We also saw that we had three investigative teams that on some occasions were investigating the same thing and we decided to take the step to integrate the three investigative teams," César Batiz, director of El Pitazo, told the Knight Center.
Source: Knight Center
A film on the work of investigative collective Bellingcat has won the prize for best documentary at the 47th International Emmy Awards. “Bellingcat: Truth in a Post-Truth World,” from Dutch filmmaker Hans Pool, follows the rise of the international team of online researchers as they use their open source investigation skills to uncover major stories around the world.
Egyptian authorities carried out a raid on the offices of the independent investigative newsroom Mada Masr and detained three of its journalists on November 24. This came two days after its editor Shady Zalat was arrested. All the journalists were freed later in the day, including Zalat. According to Mada Masr, plainclothes security forces checked the IDs of everyone in the office, confiscated all laptops and phones, and asked some of the journalists to unlock their devices.
An editor of one of the few independent media sites left in Egypt was arrested by Egyptian police today. Shady Zalat, who works for investigative newsroom Mada Masr, is the latest journalist to be detained in a new wave of repression that has seen at least 3,000 people arrested since September. Mada Masr is one of hundreds of websites blocked by the Egyptian government.
