Beh Lih Yi

A press freedom advocate and journalist with over 20 years of experience, Beh Lih Yi is the Asia-Pacific Director at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a global press freedom organisation. She provides strategic direction and oversight of all areas of CPJ’s work in the Asia-Pacific region, guiding the organisation’s advocacy, research, and assistance efforts in protecting journalists and safeguarding press freedom, as well as managing a team of researchers. Beh regularly engages with high-level government officials, diplomats, policymakers and international organisations to promote press freedom, and with the aim of bringing justice for journalists who were jailed or killed for their work. She is frequently interviewed by local and international media. She began her career at the award-winning independent Malaysian news website, Malaysiakini, before going on to work for global news outlets Agence France-Presse (AFP) and the Thomson Reuters Foundation. She reported from across Asia for over two decades, with a focus on human rights and social justice issues. She is multilingual and grew up in multi-cultural Malaysia.