Robert Mahoney

Guest Author

Robert Mahoney (@RobertMMahoney) is outgoing director of special projects at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). He is a journalist, author and fighter for press freedom who has been at the forefront of the struggle for press freedom, journalists’ safety, and the right to report since joining CPJ in 2005. From 1978 to 2004, Mahoney worked with Reuters news agency in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. He headed news bureaus in Jerusalem, West Africa, and Germany, and also served as news editor for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East based in London. After a stint as a freelancer and journalism trainer, he joined CPJ, where he helped lead the organization and expanded its reporting and advocacy, particularly at the intersection of technology and press freedom. He helped build an Emergencies Response Team to address the growing safety needs of journalists. He became deputy executive director in 2007 and executive director in 2022.

He writes on the press and appears in print and media interviews as an expert on media freedom and threats to journalists globally. In 2022, he co-authored with former CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon The Infodemic: How Censorship and Lies Made the World Sicker and Less Free. He is on LinkedIn.