On February 26, 2018, Slovak investigative journalist Marek Vagovič rushed through the morning traffic of Bratislava. Early that morning his boss, Peter Bárdy, editor in chief of online news portal Aktuality.sk, summoned him to the office for … Read more
In an essay first published in 1999 that graces his collection “Things That Matter” (2013), the late Charles Krauthammer answered a question posed by Time magazine: Who was the most important person in … Read more
Imagine a country where reporters shy away from contentious issues, where journalism is considered a dead-end job, where the private sector rarely advertises through mass media, and where the mainstream press wields virtually no power in national affairs. That country … Read more
Rappler, a leading online news website in the Philippines, is fighting a legal battle for its survival, a danger signal to media freedom in the Southeast Asian country that used to pride itself as having the most robust … Read more
On a sunny Friday in May, a sweetly solemn ceremony unfolded on the grounds of Harvard’s Lippmann House as Nieman Fellows gathered for a class reunion. Missing was Anja Niedringhaus, a treasured classmate and Associated Press photographer … Read more
If there is anything African journalists have learned from their American compatriots, it’s the role of a free press in fostering the growth of Africa’s fledgling democracies. Through its diplomatic missions in most countries—yes, most, because in a few cases … Read more
Deniz Yücel is the only German journalist who is in prison in Turkey for doing his job. He has been in police custody since February 14, when he turned himself in for questioning. He has been held since … Read more
Over the first few weeks of 2017, Israeli TV news viewers have been exposed to conversations Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has held in recent years with Arnon Mozes, publisher of some of the biggest newspapers and websites in Israel, including … Read more
In the late 1980s, I found myself banned from Indonesia. I ended up on the blacklist after a rookie correspondent’s mistake; I wrote that the longtime dictator, Suharto, had taken power in a coup, rather than using the military regime’s … Read more
I’ve seen this bad movie before—in fact, far too many times: strongmen, whether vicious kingpins or populist leaders bullying reporters in either my native Mexico or across Latin America, authorities threatening reporters by cutting off state advertising money, muzzling them … Read more
