The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has moved quickly to connect with and help Haitian journalists impacted by the recent earthquake there.

CPJ has responded with direct assistance for basic daily needs to “get them on their feet again”, according to the organization.

CPJ’s Journalist Assistance program is cooperating with Jean Roland Chery. He is a reporter for Radio Haiti-Inter who lives in New York, but maintains an outstanding network of contacts on the ground in Haiti. Through Chery, the CPJ has been able to develop a network of on-the-ground contacts to reach journalists, see what they need, and find out whether partnering with local organizations is possible.

Chery’s blog about Signal FM tells about the only Haitian radio station to have broadcast continuously before and after the Jan. 12 earthquake.

The organization is also in touch with Guylar Delva, Haiti’s leading press freedom advocate, and head of SOS Journalistes, which protects local reporters and promotes professional journalism.

You can read about his experience in the earthquake on the CPJ Blog.

THE FULL REPORT CAN BE READ HERE

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and other members of an international solidarity mission that investigated the November 23 massacre of 57 people in the southern Philippines is saying that Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her government must take all necessary measures to provide local media with protection ahead of upcoming elections.

32 journalists and media workers were among those killed.

“The massacre underlines the terrible dangers that Filipino journalists face. It also highlights the inability and unwillingness of the State to ensure the protection and safety of journalists who are seeking to perform their duties,” the mission members say in their report, Massacre in the Philippines: International Solidarity Mission Rapid Assessment, released today.

In a newsletter also sent out today, the IFJ said that the mission conducted its investigations in the Philippines from December 5 to 10 in association with the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), an affiliate of the IFJ. The team included representatives from leading journalists’ rights and press freedom organizations, including the IFJ, Indonesia’s Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), International Media Support (IMS), International News Safety Institute (INSI), the Institute for Studies on the Free Flow of Information (ISAI), Australia’s Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance, the Southeast Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA), the Thai Journalists’ Association (TJA), and Union Network International (UNI).

“Power-holders in the Philippines must act urgently on all the recommendations of the mission’s report to reverse once and for all the country’s shameful culture of impunity for the murders of journalists, tragically underscored on November 23,” IFJ General Secretary Aidan White stated in the release.

As the mission report went to press, the toll of media personnel killed in the massacre was revised up to 32, as it was confirmed that Saksi News photographer Jepon Cadagdagon was among the victims in Maguindanao province, Mindanao. The toll of 32 media personnel includes 31 whose bodies were recovered, as well as Reynaldo”Bebot” Momay who remains missing.

The mission team says that it holds grave concerns for the safety of Filipino journalists as the investigation and prosecution of the accused take place in a tense environment ahead of national and presidential elections due on May 10.

“This massacre, coming at the very beginning of the 2010 election process, not only undermines that process but has dealt a cruel blow to democracy and free media in the Philippines,” the mission members say in the report.

The groups are calling on the government to ensure media is able to report fairly and freely on the election campaign without undue risk. They are also stressing concerns about judicial and forensic processes in view of the political ties between the Arroyo administration and the Ampatuan family in Mindanao.

At least 100 gunmen are believed to have been involved in the massacre, but Andal Ampatuan Jr, the son of the clan patriarch, is the only person to be charged and brought before a court because of his direct connection, and he has pleaded not guilty.

Among other significant concerns highlighted in the report is the role of Major General Alfredo Cayton, the Commander of the 6th Infantry Division in Maguindinao at the time of the massacre.

Cayton, who denied requests for a military escort to accompany the convoy that was attacked on November 23, was stood down immediately after the massacre. He has since been promoted to Vice Commander of the Philippine Army.

The mission is calling for an investigation into reports that several members of the Philippine National Police were involved in the massacre.

The mission, which Arroyo declined to meet, further recommends:

• ­The Government and local authorities must undertake all necessary measures to fully investigate the massacre and to ensure all evidence is properly preserved and available.

• ­The Government and local authorities must provide all necessary measures for the protection and safety of witnesses, investigators, prosecutors, lawyers and judges.

• ­    Families must be provided with legal support to pursue the prosecution of perpetrators.

• ­ Observers and human rights groups must have full open access to legal proceedings.

• ­ The Government is urged not to reimpose martial law ahead of the May 10 elections.

The mission report will be officially released in the Philippines today at the launch of an organization of families of journalists killed in the massacre, Justice NOW! The NUJP and Justice NOW! will conduct a press conference in Koronadal City, South Cotabato, where many of the families live.

In Quezon City, the November 23 Movement, which has been convened by the NUJP, will hold a candlelight vigil, among other activities to mark two months since the massacre.

THE FULL REPORT CAN BE READ HERE

*Note: The contents of this blog posting are portions of a newsletter/press release distributed by the International Federation of Journalists*

An upcoming exhibit at Tufts University will showcase some of the finest photojournalistic work available. The exhibit, entitled “Questions Without Answers,” will feature the work of all of VII photo agency’s photographers, Marcus Bleasdale; Ron Haviv; Antonin Kratochvil; Gary Knight; Joachim Ladefoged; Christopher Morris; James Nachtwey; Franco Pagetti; Stephanie Sinclair; and John Stanmeyer; and the estate of Alexandra Boulat. It will also also feature several of VII’s network photographers.

Joachim Ladefoged, Tsunami, Sri Lanka, 2005

The exhibit will be housed at Tufts University Art Gallery from January 21 (tomorrow) through April 4. An opening reception, featuring some of the photographers with work in the exhibit, will be next week on January 28.

See the Tufts press release for full details.

Photographs included in the exhibit depict events of the post-Cold War period and their aftermaths, from the Fall of the Berlin Wall and September 11, 2001, to Iraq and Afghanistan, The Balkans and Congo, Chechnya and Gaza, among others.

An exclusive Newsweek interview with the wife of Dr. Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, the suicide bomber in Afghanistan who killed himself and 7 CIA agents, reveals a chilling anti-American sentiment.

During the interview, Defne Bayrak, 31, spent more than an hour at the offices of NEWSWEEK Türkiye in Istanbul talking about her husband and his hate for America.

Bayrak is Turkish and a journalist, and one book she has translated is called Bin Laden: Che Guevara of the East.

According to Newsweek:

“Al-Balawi “started to change,” says his wife, after the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. By 2004, she says, he began to talk to her about his strong belief in the need for violent jihad against Western occupiers of Muslim lands, but he was not part of any organization or group. “He followed all of them, but from a distance,” she says. “He was constantly reading and writing. He was crazy about online forums. He would go onto them and write severe, extremely hardline comments.”

The interview was reported by Newsweek Turkiye’s Adem Demir and written by Christopher Dickey.

2009 was an unusually dramatic year in the journalism world. But not because of ongoing corporate changes, which translated as the further downsizing of media companies. Lost jobs and denigrated institutional memory at major news outlets was an important part of what happened to reporters and their kin in the past year.

However, the most significant human drama was the high number of journalists murdered. Killed while they were working or because of stories they reported on, most of their murderers are still walking free. Impunity in murder cases of journalists worldwide is shockingly high.

The total number of journalists killed in 2009 was 76. The only other deadlier year in the past decade was 2007, when 86 were killed.

The year started with fears about the safety of journalists as threats and “mysterious deaths” of reporters in war-torn countries like Afghanistan continued. Extremely dangerous conditions in the middle east included the January Israeli offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Media access was restricted and 2 journalists died in the violence.

The capture and imprisonment of U.S. journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling in North Korea brought new fears about the safety of American journalists working overseas.  The women, who work for CurrentTV, were eventually rescued and brought home safely after the dramatic intervention of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and a skilled team that solved the crisis with diplomacy.

In May, Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi was released from prison in Iran, after being accused of and imprisoned for being a spy for the U.S. government. Saberi had worked as a freelance journalist in Iran for years.

The second half of 2009 took a turn for the worse, beginning with the tragic unfolding of events in Iran as tens of thousands of people took to the street in protest of questionable results in the country’s presidential elections. As traditional media outlets were shut down or shut out, citizens took it upon themselves to get the word out through other avenues. Twitter and Facebook were used to publicize human rights violations and as an outlet for citizen journalism.

Months after the initial protests in the streets–which have continued– high profile journalists inside Iran are still being jailed. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports that just in the past week, at least 11 journalists have been jailed by the Iranian government. They include former International Press Freedom Award recipient Mashallah Shamsolvaezin and prominent writer Emadeddin Baghi. According to CPJ, there are now more than 30 detained journalists in Iran.

According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), overall incidents involving journalists in 2009 were:

Traditional Journalists
33 journalists kidnapped
573 journalists arrested
1456 physically assaulted
570 media censored
157 journalists fled their countries

Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents
1 blogger died in prison
151 bloggers and cyber-dissidents arrested
61 physically assaulted
60 countries affected by online censorship

Most tragically, 76 journalists were killed in the past year, compared to 60 in 2008, an increase of 26 percent.

The most highly publicized of these murder cases included Franco-Spanish journalist Christian Poveda. Poveda , a documentary filmmaker who created a highly controversial film called “La Vida Loca” about Salvadoran gangs, was shot in the head in El Salvador. Several people have been arrested in connection with his execution, which has been linked to his work on documenting and exposing gangs in the tiny Central American country.

In the Philippines, a caravan of people traveling in connection with upcoming elections there was attacked. Dozens of people were murdered, including 30 journalists. It was the worst mass murder of  journalists in history.

Following the shocking, graphic, and horrific accounts of the murders of dozens of people in late November in the Philippines–31 of whom were journalists–advocacy groups are rallying for justice.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is calling for a global day of solidarity for the 31 journalists murdered in the Philippines. The Global Day of Solidarity, as they are calling it, will call for justice for killings that took place in Maguindanao province in the Philippines on Nov. 23.

“Filipino journalists need to hear our voices expressing solidarity with the victims and anger at the Philippine government that allowed this to happen”, said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary in a press release. “106 journalists have now met a violent death since President Arroyo was elected in 2001. Her government has created the circumstances for this massacre by allowing a culture of impunity to flourish.”

The IFJ is heading an international mission to support the families of those killed and to find justice for them. They are partnering with the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).

According to the IFJ, The mission also includes representatives from the Indonesia’s Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), Australia’s Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance, the Thai Journalists’ Association (TJA) Southeast Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA), the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ), International News Safety Institute (INSI), International Media Support (IMS), the Institute for Studies on the Free Flow of Information (ISAI) and Union Network International (UNI).

Ahead of regional elections on May 10, the organizations are hoping to call attention to the dangerous conditions that journalists in the Philippines work under.

26 journalists were reportedly murdered in the Philippines earlier this week. The murders brought a swift response from the international journalism community.

In a letter to Philippine President Arroyo, the Overseas Press Club said, in part:

“The members of the Overseas Press Club of America are stunned by the news received today of the massacre of…journalists along with…other people in Mangudadatu Province, Mindanao Island. This is an atrocity which demands the swiftest and fullest action by your government to bring the killers to justice. We are too well aware of the history of violence against journalists in the Philippines. We have urged you numerous times in the past to bring all of your resources to bear on each individual case. But this mass murder deserves something even greater.”

According to the press freedom organization, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the massacre happened a few hours after around 50 gunmen led by Andal Ampatuan Jr., the mayor of Shariff Aguak (a municipality in Maguindanao province). A police inspector identified solely by the name of Dicay has also been implicated. According to RSF, the men kidnapped members of a large convoy of supporters of Esmael Mangudadatu, an Ampatuan clan opponent who wants to run for governor.

“We have often condemned the culture of impunity and violence in the Philippines, especially Mindanao,” said RSF in a statement. “This time, the frenzied violence of thugs working for corrupt politicians has resulted in an incomprehensible bloodbath. We call for a strong reaction from the local and national authorities.”

There were initially virtually no reports in the Philippine press about the attacks.

Impoverished Ethiopians search a city trash dump site for food and items that they can sell or barter in the capital city of Addis Ababa. (photo by Zoriah, www.zoriah.com)

Zoriah Miller, who publishes photographs of the name Zoriah, is an award-winning independent journalist who travels the globe, photographing and telling stories about the people and places he sees. The insight of the lone journalist, not tied to, bound–or protected–by major media interests, provides valuable insight.

From one of Zoriah’s recent blog postings about his time in Ethiopia:

“I am in Ethiopia working on several projects, including one on the lives of the impoverished people of this country. The government goes to great lengths to keep stories like these from being told, including arresting journalists, spying on photographers, etc. What is life without a few challenges right? I do feel it is important to capture such issues and bring them to light, especially when there has been little captured here in these regards. Assuming I don’t “disappear” over here, I hope to bring you more images on these subjects soon.”

The Overseas Press Club of America will host a panel of heavyweight journalists on th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on Monday, November 9. Foreign correspondent Tim Aeppel, prestigious photojournalist and co-founder of Contact Press Images David Burnett, former Newsweek Bonn/Berlin bureau chief Michael Meyer, and international affairs writer/lecturer Elizabeth Pond will be on hand. The forum will be hosted by NYTimes and International Herald Tribune columnist Roger Cohen.

The panel and reception will be at the German House, 871 United Nations Plaza, at 49th Street, on the second floor. For reservations, call the OPC office at 212-626-9220 or e-mail boots@opcofamerica.orgThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to put your name and the name of a guest on the reservation list. Also bring a photo ID to get through security.

American Journalists to Recount Fall of Berlin Wall
Monday, November 9 at 6 p.m.
Panel of American journalists (reception following) with German Consulate
German House
871 United Nations Plaza, at 49th Street, second floor

A virtual wall created for Twitter users to express their thoughts and hopes on the 20 year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall has been blocked in China.

The “Berlin Twitter Wall,” as it’s called, is an initiative of KulturProjekte Berli, a not-for-profit organization that promotes networking and mediation of art and culture.

Launched on October 20, according to the press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the virtual wall was blocked by Chinese authorities after almost 2,000 Chinese Internet users left Twitter messages there.The wall currently has just over 4,000 tweets posted on it, mostly in Chinese.

“Chinese Internet users must not be prevented from accessing the Berlin Twitter Wall,” said Reporters Without Borders in a statement released this morning.  “Initiatives like these are important platforms for the promotion of freedom of speech as well as for critical voices and protest.”

RSF added that many foreign news outlets and social-networking sites remain inaccessible to Chinese users.

Twitter account holders can post comments that appear automatically on the berlintwitterwall.com site by using the hashtag #fotw (fall of the wall) .