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Press freedom

Yesterday

From left, Russian journalists Konstantin Gabov, Antonina Favorskaya, Artem Kriger and Sergey Karelin in a Moscow court appearance last year.

Russia jails journalists for 5.5 years for ties to Alexei Navalny

The four freelance journalists were found guilty of “extremism” for their links to the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his anti-corruption group.

March

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, left, and Kash Patel, FBI director nominee, look on after the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool Photo via AP)

Washington Post veteran quits after column criticising Bezos is killed

The resignation of opinion editor Ruth Marcus, who had been with the newspaper for more than 40 years, is the latest in a string of departures.

August 2024

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris greet reporter Evan Gershkovich at Andrews Air Force Base.

Journalist back on US soil in historic Russia prisoner swap

Reporter Evan Gershkovich arrived home, along with other US prisoners freed from Russian jails, following the largest such deal with Moscow since the Cold War.

July 2024

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich

US journalist sentenced to 16 years in Russian prison

The Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich becomes the first Western reporter to be convicted of spying in modern Russia, and could be used in a prisoner swap.

Jimmy Lai.

Why Britain’s new PM could hold the key to Jimmy Lai’s freedom

Keir Starmer cut his teeth as a barrister at the same firm as Australian human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson, who is fighting for the release of Hong Kong mogul Jimmy Lai.

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June 2024

Li Qiang and Anthony Albanese

Don’t trade free speech for iron ore, jailed HK mogul’s son warns

Sebastien Lai wants the Albanese government to pressure China to release his pro-democracy father Jimmy Lai.

May 2024

Al Jazeera’s master control room at the network’s office in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

‘Dark day for media’: Israel shuts down Al Jazeera’s operations

The government accused the Qatari-funded satellite channel of being a “Hamas mouthpiece” and a threat to national security.

February 2024

Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny sends a heart message to his wife Yulia while in a Russian court in early 2021.

Putin critic Alexei Navalny dies in Arctic prison camp

Alexei Navalny, the Russian lawyer and activist who became the most potent voice in opposition to President Vladimir Putin, died in his prison camp on Friday.

November 2023

Kean Wong, a former journalist at The Australian Financial Review, has returned to Sydney after being arrested in Malaysia last month.

Ex-AFR journalist returns to Australia after arrest in Malaysia

Kean Wong was investigated for sedition in relation to a book he edited that examined the country’s 2018 election.

October 2023

Independent Senator Rex Patrick is pursuing the government over its secrecy.

Freedom of information delays a ‘cancer’ on access

Complaints about freedom of information requests are rising, and government agencies are increasingly failing to meet the legislated time frame for decisions.

May 2023

Julian Assange leaving Southwark Court in 2019.

Dutton’s surprise backing of Assange lifts supporters’ hopes

Advocates for Julian Assange want Australia to push for the Wikileaks’ founder’s freedom when US President Joe Biden visits later this month.

March 2022

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Australian envoy denied access to Cheng Lei trial in Beijing

Ambassador Graham Fletcher has been denied access to the trial of Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who was detained in 2020.

September 2021

A crackdown on the press in Myanmar following the February coup led to almost total suppression of the internet.

Why the crackdown on journalism in Asia matters to Australia

From Myanmar to China, the media faces authoritarian challenges that will have a material impact on our understanding of the region shaping the future of the world.

July 2021

Peter Greste wants to help the Australian public understand the challenges facing press freedom in Australia.

Peter Greste pushes for media freedom act to protect journalists

The Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom is launching a press freedom tracker to assist in conversations with politicians and governments about the state of the media across the Asia-Pacific region.

June 2021

In this image made from video provided by TVB, Fung Wai-kong, centre, an editorial writer of the now-defunct Hong Kong pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily sits in a police car after his arrest.

Apple Daily writer arrested at airport as media delete articles

Journalist Fung Wai-kong was detained as he attempted to leave the city, media including broadcaster TVB said, making him the seventh person swept up in a probe into the now-shuttered newspaper.

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Hong Kong’s Apple Daily newspaper and website will wind up by Saturday.

Apple Daily to stop publishing by Saturday

The end of the popular 26-year-old tabloid has escalated alarm over media freedom and other rights in the Chinese-ruled city.

February 2021

Elaine Stead, pictured with barrister Sue Chrysanthou, SC, was part of now collapsed ASX-listed fund manager Blue Sky,  one of the worst corporate collapses in the past five years.

Aston verdict shows defamation laws have pole-vaulted original purpose

The courts’ role is not to police rudeness or protect hurt feelings - let alone dampen free speech and silence journalists exposing bad corporate behaviour.

January 2021

Elaine Stead, followed by her sister Olivia, outside the Federal Court in Sydney on Wednesday.

Hurt feelings win is no protection for investor losses

It is the nature of defamation law that the losses of investors attract less recompense than the hurt feelings of an investment manager.

September 2020

Xinhua said Yang Jingzhong  was one of four journalists targeted in raids linked to a foreign interference investigation involving NSW Labor MP Shaoquett Moselmane.

Chinese journalist says dawn raids by ASIO traumatised his daughter

China's state news agency, Xinhua, published a detailed account by one of four journalists it said were targeted in raids linked to a foreign interference investigation.

Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton says slanted coverage is a concern.

'Slanted views': Dutton puts foreign journalists on notice

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton says there is no evidence Australian correspondents were put in peril because of raids on Chinese journalists.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/press-freedom-1lz2