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National Press Club urges members, guests to sign Rezaian petition
The National Press Club has set up a station in its lobby dedicated to seeking freedom for the Washington Post's Jason Rezaian, who has been jailed in Iran since July. ``Everybody needs to sign the petition to free Jason,'' Club President John Hughes said. ``We join journalism organizations worldwide in raising our voice to say that no reporter should be jailed for doing his job.'' The Rezaian station, located just outside the library in the main lobby, has information that is readily accessible to the thousands of people who enter the Club each week. The Club urges people to pick up a…
Type: News
National Press Club Applauds Bail for Al Jazeera Journalists
The National Press Club applauded an Egypt judge's decision to grant bail to two Al Jazeera journalists, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, who have been held in jail for more than 400 days. "Bail for these two journalists is a positive sign that Egypt may be listening to voices around the world," National Press Club President John Hughes said. "Egypt must now move to permanently free these men who were jailed merely for doing their jobs." News reports said the two journalists were likely to be released within two days while the case against them continues. They had been arrested in December…
Type: News
National Press Club calls release of Al Jazeera journalist a positive step
The National Press Club said Egypt's release of Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste is encouraging and renewed its call for the release of other reporters being held. News reports on Feb. 1 said Greste, an Australian, was released and deported to Cyprus after being held in Egypt for 400 days. He had been arrested in December 2013 and tried on charges of providing assistance to the Muslim Brotherhood and spreading untrue information, according to the news reports. The Press Club has called for the release of Greste and his colleagues numerous times, including on Jan. 15, when former NPC…
Type: News
National Press Club expresses outrage at slaying of Japanese journalist
The National Press Club deplored the slaying of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto and said the perpetrators must be brought to justice after Japanese authorities said Feb. 1 they believe a video depicting Islamic State militants killing Goto is authentic. Goto, who had been held hostage before his death, was a highly-regarded journalist known for compassionately recording the difficulties children and other civilians faced in war zones. "The wanton taking of any human life is disgusting," National Press Club President John Hughes said. "The murder of such a talented, dedicated reporter is…
Type: News
National Press Club urges Iran to release jailed Washington Post journalist
The National Press Club calls on Iranian leaders to immediately release Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, who has been detained for more than six months with unknown charges against him. "This confinement must end," NPC President John Hughes said. "It is sickening that Iran would jail a journalist who was only trying to inform the world fairly and impartially about happenings in the country." The Washington Post in its Jan. 29 edition included a story about the confinement of Rezaian, who is the organization's bureau chief in Tehran. Post Executive Editor Martin Baron said in the…
Type: News
Press Freedom panel on Turkey explores government control, acceptance of censorship
The administration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and underlying attitudes of Turkish society are the sources of journalists’ restrictions, harassment and arrests in Turkey, panelists at an NPC's Freedom of the Press Committee event said Jan. 27 at the National Press Club. Sevgi Akarcesme, columnist for Zaman Daily, a Turkish paper, called Turkey an “arbitrocacy,” under the Erdogan regime. Kemal Kirisci, Turkish Industry and Business Association’s senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, cited a poll of 16,000 Turks that found 60 percent agreed that the media could be…
Type: News
National Press Club to examine crackdown on press in Turkey Jan 27
In the wake of the Turkish government’s December arrests of a large number of opposition journalists and media executives, the National Press Club’s Freedom of the Press Committee is convening a panel to examine repression of the media in Turkey. The event will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 27 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the club’s conference rooms. Attendance is free for club members and costs $5 for non-members. Register here. In mid-December, the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered the arrest of more than 31 people, including a large number of journalists and senior…
Type: News
National Press Club president urges Egypt to free jailed journalists
National Press Club President Myron Belkind, on his last day in office as the Club’s 107th president, appealed Jan. 15 to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to free three Al Jazeera journalists imprisoned in Egypt since December 2013. “President El-Sisi, I appeal to you to free these three journalists, who insist they were only carrying out their professional responsibilities as journalists when they were imprisoned on charges of supporting terrorism,” Belkind said. Egypt's Court of Cassation ordered a retrial of the three journalists on Jan. 1, 2015, but they have not been granted bail…
Type: News
"I am Charlie” remembrance at NPC this week
The National Press Club will honor the victims of the terrorist attack on the office of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris Jan. 7 with a minute of silence at the start of every Club event this week. “We have a very full week of events, including committee meetings, Newsmakers, a luncheon, and other programs leading up to the annual general meeting, and I would like to ask each event chair to request everyone to stand for a minute’s silence to remember the victims' contributions to journalism and to freedom of the press,” said Club President Myron Belkind. Among the 12 dead at…
Type: News
Journalists who were jailed by the feds call for federal shield law
Several former journalists who went to jail to protect their sources from the U.S. government decried the lack of transparency in the Obama administration and called for a national shield law so other reporters won’t be detained in the future. “No one should have to go through what we went through in order to get information and disseminate it to the public,” said Brian Karem, the event’s moderator. Karem went to jail four times to protect a confidential source in story about a San Antonio murder case. All of the former journalists said federal protection would embolden reporters and end…
Type: News