China Continues To Be Unfriendly To Journalists

Fang Shimin, a Chinese journalist, was recently attacked by an unidentified assailant wielding a metal hammer. Fang escaped with minor injuries, but believes the attack is related to his work as a journalist.

Known in China as the "science cop," Fang concentrates on exposing flawed or weak scientific claims or research, fraudlent resumes and plagarism. He has received several threats.

"In an ideal world, some more formal and organized watchdogs ... professional organizations or a governmental agency would be in place," Fang said. "But China does not have these, so individual watchdogs become essential."

This attack followed a similar assault of Fang Xuanchang, an editor at Caijing magazine who has exposed multiple doctors promoting dubious miracle cures. He was beaten by two men while walking by his house in June. These two attacks are painful reminders that censorship is not the only risk facing journalists in China.

Fang Shimin, who writes under the pen name Fang Zhouzi, is a rare example of a journalist in China. "Fang Zhouzi touches upon power and business and the officials who support those businesses, because with any business, behind it there are officials in support," says Li Datong, former editor of Freezing Point. "So it's a matter of facing up to power. Chinese media, generally speaking, don't do a good job of this."

China is the leader in terms of jailing journalists; 24 were put in prison last year according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. It also ranks near the bottom of the annual index of press freedom, complied by Reporters Without Borders.

Beijing police are investigating both attacks, but no arrests have been made so far. The attacks continue to contribute to the culture of fear that journalists and other whistle-blowers encounter.

"I will continue what I am doing," Fang Shimin said. "And of course I will take some security measures."

Photo Credit: CreativeCommons.org

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Lara Logan Assulted in Egypt

Lara Logan, a journalist for CBS News, was recovering in an American hospital this week after being sexually assaulted and beaten in Egypt's Tahrir Square by a mob last Friday.

On the day Hosni Mubarak stepped down Logan was working on a "60 Minutes" story surveying the reaction of anti-Mubarak protesters when her crew was suddenly surrounded by a dangerous group of protesters.

Logan was pulled away from her co-workers and brutally attacked until a group of women and Egyptian solders pulled her from the furious mob.

Logan was accused of being an Israeli spy and told to leave Egypt earlier this month. After being detained she went back to the U.S.

Shortly after her return to the U.S. she went back to Cairo before Mubarak fled his office.

Logan has made her name as a war reporter for Britain's GMTV in 2001 at the beginning of the Afghanistan war. Later she reported on the war in Iraq. In 2002 Logan joined CBS News.

There are at leased 140 injured or killed reporters while covering the Egypt protests since Jan. 30 according to the committee to Protect Foreign Journalists.

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Russian journalist nearly beaten to death

Moscow paramedics rushed 30-year-old Russian journalist Oleg Kashin to the hospital after finding him on the steps of his apartment building covered in blood.

Unknown assailants left Kashin with a shattered jaw, fractured skull, a broken leg and crushed fingers. It is speculated that Kashin's crushed fingers indicates a revenge assault for his writing.

It has been reported that Kashin is in serious but not life-threatening condition and had induced a coma to stabilize his injuries.

Kashin is a political reporter for Kommersant, one of Moscow's mainstream dailies, where his sharp writing for youth groups is what he is known for.

In August Molodaya Gvardiya, a youth wing of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia party, displayed his displeasure by publishing Kashin's photograph and captioning it as "will be punished."

The attack further shocked Russia's media and civil rights community who have suffered many similar attacks. Kashin's colleagues are discouraged that the crime will not be solved.

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