By: E&P Staff The Committee to Protect Journalists has begun blogging about censorship and other press concerns surrounding the Olympic Games, which open in Beijing on Friday evening. CPJ has also set up a hotline at +852 6717 0591 to take calls from journalists facing censorship, threats, attacks, or other press freedom abuses.
The most prominent contributer to the blog is CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Bob Dietz, who has worked in China for over 20 years and is posting from Hong Kong. He writes this morning examining China's assertions that "politics" are intruding on the Olympic Games.
"What we have done is hold China and the IOC accountable to the very clear and specific promise that they made in 2001 when the Games were awarded ... Censoring sources of information breaks that promise directly. Blocking Web sites is a fundamental restriction," Dietz writes in a Monday morning post.
CPJ is also monitoring the Chinese press with the help of CPJ Asia consultant Kristen Jones. "A fluent Mandarin speaker, [Jones] will post a daily roundup of what the government-controlled Chinese media is covering ? and not covering," according to a CPJ statement.
The CPJ Blog was launched last month and features posts on a large amount of press freedom issues from around the world. "The blog seeks to give readers context and insight into the work that CPJ does daily to protect the rights of journalists?through personal stories of journalists who have been jailed , censored, or attacked; news roundups on press freedom issues; and reports from staffers and journalists in the field." says a CPJ statement.
To read the latest Olympic-related posts, go
here.
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