In the wake of news that a CBC reporter was held hostage in Afghanistan and released after nearly a month in captivity, the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) is urging the Canadian government to step up its efforts to secure the safe release of an Alberta freelance journalist taken hostage in Somalia earlier this year.

Amanda Lindhout, 27, was abducted August 23, along with an Australian photojournalist and a Somali man working with the journalists. Lindhout’s captors demanded a ransom by October 28, but that deadline passed with no news. “Freelancers are always more vulnerable, but in particular Amanda — because she is young, perhaps a little bit inexperienced, and she’s in probably one of the most dangerous countries in the world,” says CAJ president Mary Agnes Welch. “So I think it’s a particularly critical situation.”

On November 8, the CBC revealed that Afghanistan correspondent Mellissa Fung had been abducted four weeks prior, held captive and ultimately released. The public broadcaster and the federal government had asked other media organizations not to report on the kidnapping during her captivity because publicity could jeopardize negotiations for her release. The decision has sparked vigorous debate on whether or not news organizations would agree to a similar blackout if the hostage wasn’t a journalist.

Lindhout’s kidnapping was reported in the media almost immediately after it occurred. “The fact is that we do know about Amanda,” says Welch. “It’s already out there, so we might as well try and sort of use that to try and spur the government to maybe do a little bit more than they’re already doing on her behalf.”