Journalists In Trouble

'Berlin Wall's Lessons For Today'

In an op-ed for "USA Today," Jeffrey Gedmin discusses RFE and the role of free media in societies living under repressive regimes. More

'Our Facebook Campaign For Emin And Adnan'

The following is a guest post from Ali S. Novruzov, an Azerbaijani who blogs over at "In Mutatione Fortitudo. He describes how the arrest and conviction of the "donkey bloggers" have pushed the country's youth activists into finding creative ways to get their message out using new technologies. More

Iran: Bloggers' Rights

RFE/RL Journalist Recognized for Promoting Bloggers' Rights in Iran

Radio Farda web editor Fred Petrossians won a prestigious new media award today from ThinkSocial for an internet-based project he co-founded that seeks to spread awareness of bloggers' rights More

Blog at Your Own Risk

More Blogging, More Arrests

Blogging is growing increasingly popular in RFE/RL’s broadcast region as a means of individual expression and as an alternative platform for delivering the news. But, as more activists discover blogging’s potential, governments have responded by arresting them. More

Russian Blogger Faces Prosecution

Mikhail Afanasyev and two colleagues are facing prosecution after launching their own investigation into a fatal explosion at the Sayano-Shushenskaya power plant in Southern Siberia. More

New Kazakh Law Alarms Press Freedom Group

Kazakhstan has recently passed legislation that “drastically curbs online freedom,” according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and threatens to silence bloggers. More

Tatar-Bashkirs Face House Arrest

On August 4, authorities in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan arrested Sergei Orlov, a historian, for allegedly propagating extremism and religious hatred on a popular web server. More

Reporters without Borders - Press Freedom Index 2009

“Press freedom must be defended everywhere in the world with the same energy and the same insistence,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Jean-François Julliard said today as his organisation issued its eighth annual world press freedom index. More

Committee to Protect Journalists - "Getting Away With Murder"

CPJ's Impunity Index 2009, compiled for the second year, lists 14 countries where journalists are killed regularly and governments fail to solve the crimes. Within RFE/RL's broadcast region, the study ranks Iraq first, Afghanistan 7th, and Russia 9th. It concludes that the vast majority of victims are local reporters covering sensitive topics such as crime, corruption, and national security in their home countries. More

Freedom House - Freedom of the Press 2009

A profile of the state of media freedom in 195 countries worldwide. This year's report states that the financial crisis has had a negative impact on the state of the world's media, giving oppressive governments more reason for control. The biggest decline has been in the former Soviet Union. More

Committee to Protect Journalists - "Anatomy of Injustice: The Unsolved Killings of Journalists in Russia"

Secrecy, corruption, lack of accountability, and conflicts of interest routinely thwart justice in the murders of journalists in Russia, says this special report, issued in September 2009. Killers are convicted in just one in 17 slayings since 2000. Victims include acclaimed reporter Anna Politkovskaya, who was gunned down on October 6, 2004. More

About RFE/RL

About This Page

This page is for and about RFE/RL journalists who take risks, face threats and make sacrifices every day to get the news. Our aim is to recognize the courage and conviction, and to document the high price that many have paid simply for doing their job. Since 2007, there have been 34 major attacks against RFE/RL journalists who were targeted for seeking and telling the truth.

Reported on Watchdog

Press Releases

November 18, 2009

Front Row Seat To The Revolution

November 17, 2009

Vaclav Havel Remembers the Velvet Revolution 20 Years Later

RFE/RL

Sunday, November 22, 2009