Nabeel Rajab, a human rights activist from the Kingdom of Bahrain, came into Jodie Ginsberg's office in London in the summer of 2014.
He was released from jail recently for organizing democracy rallies during the Arab Spring and for issuing a statement that the monarchy ofBahrain found offensive. He was impressed by how important it was for his colleagues to know that people were fighting for them.
After Mr. Rajab was thrown in jail again, Ms. Ginsberg kept in contact with his family and led a campaign to get him released.
Mr. Rajab said Jodie was one of the reasons his case became known internationally.
The Committee to Protect Journalists recently announced that Ms. Ginsberg would become its new president in April.
At a time when journalists are increasingly under threat, Ms. Ginsberg takes over at a time when attacks against press freedom are growing in the United States.
Two Afghan journalists who were beaten by members of the Taliban because they covered a protest in Kabul last year, spoke to The New York Times.
Ms. Ginsberg says that it is a challenge that she is excited about. She believes thatjournalism is essential if we want to have free, independent and tolerant societies.
Ms. Ginsberg said that the experience of being a victim of persecution is isolating. It is worse if you don't feel like you have the support of your friends.
As a child, Ms. Ginsberg pretended to be a foreign correspondent for her grandparents and carried a pencil and paper with her. After graduating from graduate school, Ms. Ginsberg was hired by the news agency as a business correspondent. She was in charge of the large London bureau of the news agency and oversaw a staff of 45 reporters who wrote about the 2008 banking crisis and the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
She said she never felt threatened because of her work. She became passionate about protecting journalists in the United States after she became the head of a small nonprofit freedom of expression organization.
Two White House correspondents talked about how they got death threats on a daily basis, as if it was normal, while she was on a press freedom mission in the States. I was horrified.
She said that it turned her from a journalist to a journalist advocate.
The European wing of Internews has been led by Ms. Ginsberg for the last two years. Three days after she arrived, the company announced a trial lock down because of a strange new global virus. The office in London still hasn't been returned to by employees.
She helped start a new fund that gave 180 grants to journalists and news outlets around the world, because she realized that independent journalists would need to cover the Pandemic quickly.
The memorial for Mr. Khashoggi was held by the freedom of the press in Washington, D.C.
Ms. Ginsberg believes that we can only make decisions about ourselves and our world if we have the right information.
The Committee to Protect Journalists was started in 1981 by two American journalists who worked on the side to raise awareness about the case of Alcibades Gonzlez Delvalle, a Paraguayan columnist and critic of his country's military government who had been arrested over one of his columns.
Mr. Gonzlez Delvalle was released within weeks of their campaign. The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and CBS journalists joined forces with two other journalists to create the organization that was monitoring press freedom from the United States. Walter Cronkite, the CBS News anchor who retired recently, is the group's honorary chairman. It was mandated to protect journalists who didn't have easy access to human rights lawyers.
Mr. Massing, who is still on the board, said that they enjoyed the protections and privileges. We would use our influence in America to help other journalists.
C.P.J. has grown into one of the leading press freedom organizations, with a $10 million annual budget, more than 50 employees and contractors, and a global presence that spans from the Nigerian capital to New Delhi.
In 2001, it expanded its mandate to include helping journalists who are in danger of being killed, as well as offering emergency funds to hire lawyers, get medical attention or flee their countries.
The organization helped 60 journalists and their families leave Afghanistan after the Taliban took power.
C.P.J. is helping with the case of Jeffrey Moyo, a Zimbabwean journalist who works for The New York Times and is facing criminal charges in Zimbabwe for helping two Times journalists enter the country.
Jeffrey Moyo and his wife, Purity, left the courtroom earlier this month in Zimbabwe.
The rise in attacks against journalists in the United States, where former President Donald J. Trump has been a constant critic, has swamped the organization's successes.
The executive director of the C.P.J. announced that he was stepping down at the end of last year.
The decline in press freedom has led to more cases, so you have to respond to those who need support, said Mr. Simon in an interview. If you only do that, you are in a good position. You want the situation to improve. How do you support journalists who are under threat and how do you address the broader challenges to press freedom in a constructive way?
Ms. Ginsberg agrees. She said that they want journalists to be safe so that people have access to a free and independent press. It means dealing with the systemic issues that threaten journalistic safety, not just working on individual cases.
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