SoloJourno

On December 8, 2009, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent, nonprofit organization founded in 1981, released its annual census of journalists imprisoned around the world. As of December 1st, 136 reporters, editors, and photojournalists behind bars were being held, many without trial.

This year, freelancers make up 45% of the tally. This is an increase over 2008. China again holds the record for being the world’s worst jailer of journalists, a dubious distinction it has retained for 11 years in a row. Iran, Cuba, Eritrea, and Burma round out the top five countries which currently have reporters behing bars. Iran alone has imprisoned 23.

The CPJ says:

CPJ’s list is a snapshot of those incarcerated at midnight on December 1, 2009. It does not include the many journalists imprisoned and released throughout the year. Journalists remain on CPJ’s list until the organization determines with reasonable certainty that they have been released or have died in custody.

Journalists who either disappear or are abducted by nonstate entities, including criminal gangs, rebels, or militant groups, are not included on the imprisoned list. Their cases are classified as “missing” or “abducted.”

Related CPJ Links:
Database of all imprisoned journalists
Detailed accounts of each imprisoned journalist
How to help journalists in prison

Follow CPJ on Twitter - @pressfreedom

Author and New Yorker essayist Malcolm Gladwell was interviewed by Alex Altman for Time Magazine just prior to the publication of his new book, “What the Dog Saw“. Among the subjects discussed was experimenting with public education, the flaws in corporate hiring processes and the future of journalism.

Here’s Gladwell’s answer to Altman’s question: If you had a single piece of advice to offer young journalists, what would it be?

The issue is not writing. It’s what you write about. One of my favorite columnists is Jonathan Weil, who writes for Bloomberg. He broke the Enron story, and he broke it because he’s one of the very few mainstream journalists in America who really knows how to read a balance sheet. That means Jonathan Weil will always have a job, and will always be read, and will always have something interesting to say. He’s unique. Most accountants don’t write articles, and most journalists don’t know anything about accounting. Aspiring journalists should stop going to journalism programs and go to some other kind of grad school. If I was studying today, I would go get a master’s in statistics, and maybe do a bunch of accounting courses and then write from that perspective. I think that’s the way to survive. The role of the generalist is diminishing. Journalism has to get smarter.

Read the full Q&A. See also TIME’s 2008 profile: “Outliers: Malcolm Gladwell’s Success Story” (November 13, 2008).

Via Reporters Without Borders:

Journalists fleeing persecution are vulnerable, often in a state of shock and utterly unequipped to deal with the steps they need to take. They are often surprised not have easier access to international protection. Lacking reliable information, some take unwise risks and fall into traps or become victims of unfair proceedings. The recent imprisonment of Mexican journalist Emilio Gutiérrez, who sought exile in the United States, should not happen again,” Reporters Without Borders said.

Via Reporters Without Borders:

Umukundwa is a Rwandan journalist who worked for various foreign news media including Voice of America, which has many listeners in the Great Lakes region.

She was always very outspoken in her articles and reports, including those about the activities of the ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front (FPR). She was often the target of threats and physical attacks but this did not deter her.

However, after gunmen invaded her home and her brother was the target of a physical attack in August 2006, she felt she had to flee Kigali for the sake of her physical safety and freedom.

Now a refugee in France, she calmly relates these experiences and ordeals in the video.

Last June, two reporters - Afghan journalist, Tahir Ludin and Pulitzer Prize-winning NYT journalist David Rohde - who had been held captive by the Taliban for over seven months slipped away their captors in the dead of night and made good their escape by making it down a 20-foot drop with a stolen rope. Their driver, Asadullah Mangal, who had been kidnapped at the same time, remained behind (With a Plan and a Rope, Captives Escaped Taliban).

With Bill Keller, the NYT’s executive editor, Mr. Rohde participated in a Q. and A.: Held by the Taliban answering readers’ questions on the seven months Rohde was held captive by the the Taliban in Pakistan.

7 Months, 10 Days in Captivity:[blockquote]

This is the first installment in a five-part series offering a first-person account by David Rohde of his seven months as a captive of the Taliban in Pakistan. Mr. Rohde, a New York Times reporter, was kidnapped with two Afghan colleagues on Nov. 10, 2008, as they traveled to an interview with a Taliban commander outside of Kabul, Afghanistan.

Additionally, Rodhe has now produced a five-part multimedia series, Held by the Taliban, which details his ordeal.

From Journalism in the Americas:

In Part One, Rohde describes his shame for risking the lives of Luddin, a driver, and his own—all for an interview with a Taliban commander. He acknowledges making “numerous mistakes” in captivity, including exaggerating how much ransom money the Taliban could expect to receive.

“During our time as hostages, I tried to reason with our captors. I told them we were journalists who had come to hear the Taliban’s side of the story. I told them that I had recently married and that Tahir and Asad had nine young children between them. I wept, hoping it would create sympathy, and begged them to release us. All of my efforts proved pointless.”

From MediaBistro, related and interesting: Social Ad Summit Report: Wikipedia Founder On Helping Kidnapped Journos:

The main speaker of the day was Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia … his most interesting answers involved the scrubbing the Wikipedia entry for David Rohde when New York Times journalist was captured by the Taliban last year and held for seven months.

“It was a matter of national safety,” Wales explained. “The Times asked us to, and we agreed. It was a very complicated situation, and I had to think to myself, ‘What would I feel comfortable doing?’ When I realized a man’s life was in jeopardy if I allowed this information to be disseminated, I was not comfortable with it.”