Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
CJFE logo
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| Founded | 1981 |
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| Type | Non-profit NGO |
| Focus |
Freedom of speech Freedom of expression |
| Location | |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
| Method | Advocacy |
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Employees
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5 |
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Volunteers
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100 |
| Website | CJFE.org |
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) is a Canadian non-governmental organization supported by Canadian journalists and advocates of freedom of expression. The purpose of the organization is to defend the rights of journalists and contribute to the development of press freedom throughout the world. CJFE recognizes that these rights are not confined to journalists and strongly supports and defends the broader objective of freedom of expression in Canada and around the world.
CJFE was established in 1981, and parented initially by the Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) (now the Canadian Association of Journalists) as the CIJ Latin American Committee. In 1984 the group's name was changed to the Canadian Committee to Protect Journalists. Then in 1998 it became Canadian Journalists for Free Expression. Many of the Centre's members were shocked at the life-threatening conditions for journalists working in Latin America during the early 1980s. From 1979 to 1981, some 150 journalists had been killed or disappeared while in the custody of security forces in the region. Moved to action by this violence against their southern counterparts, the CIJ agreed to form a special committee to campaign against the kidnapping, torture and murder of media workers throughout Latin America. It was thus that the CIJ Latin American Committee came into being.
Working groups were formed in several cities, including Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Ottawa. Each centre maintained files on violations of freedom of expression for different countries in the region, and a "Red Alert" network was set up to react to reports of attacks.
A few years later, the group changed its name to the Canadian Committee to Protect Journalists and, with it, began to work in other parts of the world.
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