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| Abbreviation | CPJ |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1981; 44 years ago (1981) |
| Type | 501(c)(3)nonprofit organization[1] |
| 13-3081500 | |
| Purpose | Press freedom,journalisthuman rights andsafety of journalists |
| Headquarters | New York City, New York |
| Location |
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| Coordinates | 40°44′52″N73°59′36″W / 40.74769°N 73.99327°W /40.74769; -73.99327 |
Region served | International |
President | Jodie Ginsberg (2022–present)[2] Joel Simon (2006-2021)[3] Ann Cooper (1998-2006)[4][5] |
| Affiliations | International Freedom of Expression Exchange |
| Website | cpj |
TheCommittee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American501(c)(3)nonprofit organization based inNew York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotespress freedom and defends the rights ofjournalists. TheAmerican Journalism Review has called the organization "Journalism'sRed Cross."[6] Since the late 1980s, CPJ has published an annual census of journalists killed or imprisoned in relation to their work.[7]
The Committee to Protect Journalists was founded in 1981 in response to the harassment of Paraguayan journalistAlcibiades González Delvalle.[8] Its founding honorary chairman wasWalter Cronkite.[8] Since 1991, it has held the annualCPJ International Press Freedom Awards Dinner,[8] during which awards are given to journalists and press freedom advocates who have received beatings, threats, intimidation, and prison for reporting the news.
Since 1992, the organization has compiled an annual list of all journalists killed in the line of duty around the world.[9] For 2017, it reported that 46 journalists had been killed in connection with their work, as compared to 48 in 2016, and 72 in 2015, and that of those journalists killed, 18 had been murdered.[9]
In 2008, the organization launched an annual "Impunity Index" of countries in which journalists are murdered and the killers are not prosecuted.[10]
The organization is a founding member of theInternational Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), a global network of more than seventy non-governmental organizations that monitors free-expression violations around the world and defends journalists, writers, and others persecuted for exercising theirfreedom of expression. In May 2016, A United Nations committee voted to deny consultative status to CPJ, primarily led by countries with poor press freedom like China, Sudan and Russia.[11] The ban was overturned and CPJ was granted consultative status in July 2016.[12]
In October 2016, the Committee broke with its tradition of staying out of politics and warned about the danger it perceivedDonald Trump posed to press freedom in the United States and around the world.[13]
In June 2017, U.S. RepresentativeGreg Gianforte was convicted of criminalassault instate court stemming from his assault ofThe Guardian political reporterBen Jacobs the previous month.[14][15][16] As a stipulation of his settlement with Jacobs, Gianforte donated $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists, which said it would use the funds to support the newU.S. Press Freedom Tracker.[17][18]
In July 2025, the Committee urged international action to protectAl Jazeera correspondentAnas Al-Sharif and otherjournalists in Gaza, highlighting the deliberate risk faced by local reporters as the "last eyes and ears of the outside world" in Gaza.[19][20]
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