"The Committee to Protect Journalists serves an immensely important role for the profession, and we are honored that Columbia University Libraries will house their archives," said Nicholas Lemann, Dean of the Graduate School of Journalism and Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism at Columbia University.

The Committee to Protect Journalists joins Amnesty International USA, Human Rights Watch, the Committee of Concerned Scientists, and Human Rights First in recognizing the CHRDR as an international documentation center for the global human rights movement. The CHRDR supports Columbia’s human rights programs, many of which draw on its resources for teaching and research, as well as the international community of human rights scholars, students, policy-makers and advocates.

The CPJ Archive documents the founding of the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York in the early 1980s, and spans nearly three decades of the organization’s human rights work through reports, case files, administrative files, as well as photographs, videos, and a vast collection of newspaper clippings. When processed, the Archive will be available for research in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization founded in 1981. CPJ promotes press freedom worldwide by defending the rights of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal. By publicly revealing abuses against the press and by acting on behalf of imprisoned and threatened journalists, CPJ effectively warns journalists and news organizations where attacks on press freedom are occurring. CPJ organizes vigorous public protests and works through diplomatic channels to effect change. CPJ publishes articles and news releases; special reports; and Attacks on the Press, the most comprehensive annual survey of press freedom around the world.