One Free Press Coalition Spotlights Journalists Under Attack - February 2020

WIRED Staff At the top of the list is Arash Shoa-Shargh, an Iranian reporter who is serving a 10-year prison sentence.In May 2019, WIRED joined the One Free Press Coalition, a united group of preeminent editors and publishers using their global reach and social platforms to spotlight journalists under attack worldwide. Arash Shoa-Shargh (Iran) Case of imprisoned journalist serving 10 years shrouded in silence.Arash Shoa-Shargh, an Iranian journalist living in exile in Turkey and working for popular anti-government news channel Amad News, was arrested and sentenced in 2018 to 10 years on charges of “insulting the Supreme Leader,” “acting against national security,” “encouraging the public to misconduct” and “spreading corruption on the land of God.” Friends have said authorities pressure the journalist’s family to not publicize the case, while detention in a rural prison has made it difficult to access information on his current status.2. The ethnic Uzbek is the only journalist imprisoned in the country and has been held nine years on trumped-up charges for reporting on human rights violations. Magdy is experiencing health issues in pre-trial detention, ahead of a February 4 hearing.The One Free Press Coalition is comprised of more than 30 prominent international members including: Al Jazeera Media Network, AméricaEconomía; The Associated Press; Bloomberg News; The Boston Globe; BuzzFeed; CNN Money Switzerland; Corriere Della Sera; De Standaard; Deutsche Welle; Estadão; EURACTIV; The Financial Times; Forbes; Fortune; HuffPost; India Today; Insider Inc.; Le Temps; Middle East Broadcasting Networks; NHK; Office of Cuba Broadcasting; Quartz; Radio Free Asia; Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty; Republik; Reuters; The Straits Times; Süddeutsche Zeitung; TIME; TV Azteca; Voice of America; The Washington Post; WIRED; and Yahoo News.One Free Press Coalition partners with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) to identify the most urgent cases for the list, which is updated and published on the first business day of every month.The mission of the Coalition is to use the collective voices of its members—which reach more than 1 billion people worldwide—to “stand up for journalists under attack for pursuing the truth.” News organizations throughout the world can join the Coalition by emailing info@onefreepresscoalition.com.