Engnews May 2023

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‘At All Costs’ – Journalist Safety No. 1 Priority: RFA President

by RFA communications

[image: image.png] Contact: Rohit Mahajan | mahajanr(a)rfa.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 3, 2023 ‘At All Costs’ – Journalist Safety No. 1 Priority: RFA President WASHINGTON - Marking World Press Freedom Day, Radio Free Asia <https://www.rfa.org/english> (RFA) President Bay Fang reiterated the vulnerability of front-line journalists and the shared duty to protect them amid a global rise in attacks on independent media. This year’s theme of freedom of expression as a driver of all rights speaks to RFA’s founding mission and its sustained role as a trusted news source for a weekly audience of almost 60 million in some of the world’s most repressive places. “Freedom of the press is the backbone of a free society, the open sharing of ideas and information critical to upholding the rule of law and safeguarding human rights. But today, on the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day, those very liberties are under siege,” Fang said. “Authoritarian regimes increasingly harass, threaten, and detain journalists and their families in an effort to suppress the truth from their citizens and the world. “Empowering people with knowledge and facts about their communities and beyond is the goal of independent journalism. We must rise to meet this moment to ensure the safety and well being of reporters at all costs.” In RFA’s target regions, press freedom continues to decline, as malign actors in China, North Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and elsewhere, target independent media. Notably, Chinese authorities have detained and jailed family members of RFA’s Uyghur Service, while RFA journalists in Vietnam <https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/radio-free-asia-condemns-sentencing-of-v…>, Cambodia <https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/cambodia-passport-10282022162536.…>, Myanmar, and Europe have either been imprisoned, harassed, or investigated, or have endured transnational repression <https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/harassment-03202023133743.html>. Many of these journalists are highlighted in a special series and feature page, launched today on RFA’s website <https://www.rfa.org/english/news/asia/world-press-freedom-day-0502202311493…> and its social media <https://www.instagram.com/radiofreeasia/?hl=en> platforms. Despite the challenges they face, RFA’s reporters produced some of its most impactful work over the past year. Most notably, RFA’s Chinese services’ timely coverage of the historic “White Paper” protests in China led to record-breaking engagement on social media, as audiences distrustful of state narratives turned to RFA for information. Their timely coverage of the protests was also lauded <https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/04/china-protests-xi-covid-…> by The Washington Post editorial board. Additionally, RFA Myanmar’s in-depth investigation into a cache of gruesome photos and videos on a junta soldier’s lost cell phone <https://www.rfa.org/english/news/special/myanmar-soldier-atrocities/index.h…>, served as the first piece of hard evidence of the Myanmar military’s brutality and war crimes in the Sagaing region. Other highlights include RFA Khmer’s investigation into a Chinese detainee-turned Cambodian diplomat’s hidden stake <https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/cambodia-wang-yaohui-052020221725…> in a major English soccer club, and RFA Vietnamese’s extensive coverage of a major price-gouging scandal <https://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/expel-06062022162936.html> involving Covid-19 tests that toppled several senior officials in the country. # # # Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the United States Agency for Global Media.

1 year, 8 months

RFA digital brand 歪脑 | WHYNOT a first-place winner at Human Rights Press Awards

by RFA communications

[image: image.png] Contact: Rohit Mahajan | mahajanr(a)rfa.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 2, 2023 RFA digital brand 歪脑 | WHYNOT a first-place winner at Human Rights Press Awards WASHINGTON - Radio Free Asia <https://www.rfa.org/english>’s (RFA) online brand 歪脑 | WHYNOT was today named a first-place winner at this year’s Human Rights Press Awards <https://humanrightspressawards.org/> for its mini-documentary, Surviving Online Abuse <https://www.wainao.me/wainao-watches/online-abuse-documentary-en>. The project, which follows four survivors of online abuse who reflect on their psychological trauma, won in the Documentary Chinese category of the Human Rights Watch and Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications-sponsored competition, which was previously based in Hong Kong. “On the eve of World Press Freedom Day, it is fitting that RFA’s digital brand 歪脑 | WHYNOT was named a winner at this year’s Human Rights Press Awards,” RFA Executive Editor Min Mitchell said. “Their eye-opening documentary on cyberbullying on the Chinese internet reveals underreported truths about Chinese repression and speaks to the exact principles RFA - and World Press Freedom Day - stand for. We couldn’t be prouder of their incredible work.” 歪脑 | WHYNOT’s winning documentary is part of a broader project The Chinese Internet’s Hidden Victims: Uncovering and Healing the Scars of Online Abuse <https://www.wainao.me/wainao-reads/uncovering-and-healing-the-scars-of-onli…>, which investigates the Chinese cyber space, and the abuse many social media users experience. Despite filters and controls, research showed how cyberbullying persists and is encouraged by authorities on state-controlled platforms like WeChat, Douyin, and Weibo. For this investigation, 歪脑 | WHYNOT conducted an online survey in February 2022, collecting and examining data from over 2000 respondents from 220 cities in mainland China. Through interviews with witnesses, survivors, former abusers, scholars and researchers, 歪脑 | WHYNOT’s findings revealed damning statistics about the extent of online abuse and the psychological trauma victims experience. Formerly sponsored by the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong, the Human Rights Press Awards resumed this year for the first time since 2020, after being suspended amid a severe crackdown on independent media in Hong Kong. The awards recognize outstanding reporting on human rights issues in Asia, with the goal of increasing respect for people’s basic rights and raising awareness of the threats imposed on those freedoms. # # # Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the United States Agency for Global Media.

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