Awards

• Runner-up for Tankard Book Award 2016
• Runner-up for Tankard Book Award 2017

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9780231160643

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From his vantage point as director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Joel Simon has worked tirelessly to get kidnapped or imprisoned reporters freed. He's campaigned globally for justice in cases of murdered journalists. In The New Censorship, he warns us of new threats - like the insidious information management techniques of democratators Vladimir Putin and Recip Tayyip Erdogan. Simon's prescriptions for how to counter these new challenges are wise and insightful. He offers hope to all who care about maintaining the free flow of information in a world full of would-be censors. -- Ann Cooper, Columbia Journalism School Joel Simon is a warrior for press freedom and the place of journalists in every culture and country. Here he writes with characteristic passion and insight on the importance of fighting press censorship around the world, reminding us that we have new tools but old demons remain. -- Tom Brokaw, NBC News Fascinating and comprehensive, The New Censorship should become a bible for anyone seeking an honest, up-to-date grasp of the global state of press freedom. Well written and lucidly argued, this is a must-read. -- Jon Lee Anderson, staff writer for <i>The New Yorker</i>, author of <i>Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life</i> Simon's assessment of what it means to be a journalist and his call to action at book's end are moving and practical. A must-read. * Booklist (starred review) * Simon makes a persuasive case that the global trend is toward less, not greater, freedom of the press. * New Yorker * A case for why the goal of upholding 'press freedom' needs to expand, in the digital age, to defending 'freedom of information.' -- David Greenberg * The American Prospect *

Joel Simon is a warrior for press freedom and the place of journalists in every culture and country. Here he writes with characteristic passion and insight on the importance of fighting press censorship around the world, reminding us we have new tools, but old demons remain. -- Tom Brokaw, NBC News Fascinating and comprehensive, The New Censorship should become the bible for anyone seeking an honest, up-to-date grasp of the global state of press freedom. Tackling everything from China's internet firewall to the growth of jihadist terrorism and the new breed of authoritarians he calls Democratators, Joel Simon has produced a compelling inquiry into some of the most pressing challenges of today's world. Well-written and lucidly-argued, this is a must-read. -- Jon Lee Anderson, staff writer for The New Yorker, author of Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life Journalists gather information. Spies gather information. So, journalists are spies, said my inexplicably ignorant and violent interrogator in a dark room in Evin Prison in Iran. Except, spies don't have any organization to protect them. All kinds of individuals, governments and organizations try to suppress journalists around the world. Journalists are increasingly, and at times tragically, becoming characters in their own stories. As the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Joel Simon has the difficult task of advocating press freedom around the world, and saving the lives of many journalists whose lives are in peril. And he's doing a magnificent job. In his profound, and oddly entertaining book, Joel draws on years of experience dealing with censorship, its victims and its perpetrators. His book tells us why the world would be a much better place if journalists could continue doing their job safely and securely. I recommend reading this book to anyone who is interested in the news, and wants to understand the lengths journalists go to in order to process that information. -- Maziar Bahari, journalist, filmmaker, and author of And Then They Came for Me Media freedom is under attack all over the world, as Joel Simon shows us in often hair-raising detail. Yet while the diagnosis is frightening the prognosis need not be fatal. Fortunately, Simon offers a practical road map for how media freedom can and must be defended - and even expanded. That road will be long, hard, and steep. But thanks to Simon, and the dedication and sacrifice of his many colleagues and allies, it does exist. -- Rebecca MacKinnon, author Consent of the Networked. While climate change, persistent poverty, and sectarian violence typically top the list of the world's most urgent challenges, the progress of future generations also will depend upon the success we have in ensuring free speech across the globe. Joel Simon understands like few others that without a free press, modern societies will be severely stymied in solving their problems. Through insightful analysis and gripping stories relaying the experiences of front line journalists, he offers a compelling portrait of the fight for free expression occurring around the world. The New Censorship is an important contribution to a matter that deserves far more attention than it currently receives. -- Lee C. Bollinger, President, Columbia University No one understands better than Joel Simon the reasons that press freedom is now in decline nearly everywhere in the world. From Istanbul to Lahore, from Moscow to Caracas, he has met the courageous journalists who are fighting a dangerous, high-tech battle with new styles of repression. In The New Censorship, he brings us riveting and powerfully moving account from the front lines of their struggle. For anyone who wants to understand the peril that independent media faces around the world today, this is an a distressing, essential piece of work. -- Jacob Weisberg, Chairman, The Slate Group

Joel Simon is a warrior for press freedom and the place of journalists in every culture and country. Here he writes with characteristic passion and insight on the importance of fighting press censorship around the world, reminding us we have new tools, but old demons remain. -- Tom Brokaw

Author Information

Joel Simon is the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and has written widely on media issues. He is a regular contributor to Slate and the Columbia Journalism Review, and his articles and commentary have appeared in the New York Review of Books, the New York Times, World Policy Journal, and other publications. He is also the author of Endangered Mexico: An Environment on the Edge and lives in Brooklyn with his family.

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