IPI (International Press Institute) Journalist Death Watch
IPI includes in its “Death Watch” journalists and media staff who were deliberately targeted because of their profession - either because of their investigative reporting or simply because they were journalists. IPI also includes journalists who were caught in the crossfire while covering dangerous assignments.
22 Journalists killed so far in 2007
Source: IPI (International Press Institute)
14 of the journalists killed so far this year were killed in Irak.
Um Thalit
2006 Death Watch
100 JOURNALISTS KILLED IN 2006
Journalism’s Bloodiest Year
By Michael Kudlak
One hundred journalists and media staffers were killed worldwide in 2006, making it the bloodiest year on record for journalism, according to IPI’s statistics.
At least 46 journalists were killed in Iraq alone. Ten journalists were murdered in the Philippines, seven in Mexico, five in Sri Lanka, four in Pakistan and three each in Afghanistan and Colombia. Journalists were also killed in Angola, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Nigeria, Russia, Somalia, Sudan, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Almost all of these murders were committed with impunity.Forty-eight journalists and media staffers were killed in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), where Iraq, with at least 46 journalist fatalities, once again proved to be the most dangerous country in the world for journalists. Both foreign correspondents and Iraqi journalists continued to be caught in the crossfire in the deadly war between coalition troops and insurgents. Paul Douglas and James Brolan, two British journalists working for the U.S. television network CBS, were killed when a car bomb exploded as they were travelling with the U.S. Army’s 4th Infantry Division in Baghdad. Iraqi journalists working for Western news organisations or U.S.-funded Arabic newspapers and broadcasters were increasingly the target of deliberate attacks.
In addition to the deaths in Iraq, one journalist was killed in Lebanon and another in Sudan. In July, a photographer for the Lebanese magazine Al-Jaras and the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP), was killed in an Israeli attack on the town of Qana in southern Lebanon. In Sudan, Taha Mohammed Ahmed, editor-in-chief of the private daily Al-Wifaq, was kidnapped and beheaded by extremists angered over his publication of an article about the Prophet Muhammad.
Source: IPI (International Press Institute)
With 100 Journalists Killed, 2006 was the Most Brutal Year in the Modern Media’s History
The IPI World Press Freedom Review 2006 is the Vienna-based International Press Institute’s annual review of press freedom in over 180 countries around the world.
With 100 journalists killed, 2006 was the most savage and brutal year in the history of the modern media. The figure is largely due to the targeting of local journalists in Iraq, which saw 46 journalists killed. However, the murder of journalists in Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Mexico, and Sri Lanka also added to the overall figure.
Forty-eight journalists were killed in the Middle East and North Africa region. The murder and kidnapping of local journalists made reporting in Iraq the most dangerous assignment ever handed to the media. In Lebanon, where one journalist was killed, conflict and civil unrest undermined a vibrant media. Elsewhere, in Libya, Saudi Arabia and Syria, a free press is almost entirely absent; while in Egypt and Yemen journalists were prosecuted.
In Europe, where two journalists were killed, the murder of Novaya Gazeta journalist, Anna Politkovskaya, highlighted the dangers of reporting in Russia, and questioned the authorities’ desire to investigate such crimes. Since 1997, IPI has recorded the killing of 43 journalists in Russia. The often-violent controversy over the Danish cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed saw journalists arrested and prosecuted; one journalist was murdered in Sudan reportedly for writing on the subject. The controversy led to renewed attempts to introduce a “defamation of religions” clause, which appeared in UN documents, including one on terrorism.
In Asia, 29 journalists were killed, ten of them in the Philippines. China heavily censors Internet activity, aided by international corporations, and violent assaults on journalists rose with two killings this year. Pakistan saw four journalists killed and numerous abductions. The media’s struggle in Nepal led to political change, but reforms are still needed. With five journalists murdered, Sri Lanka’s violent past is returning.
There were four killings of journalists in sub-Saharan Africa. Restrictive laws suffocated the media in Zimbabwe; while the prosecution of journalists in Ethiopia has almost silenced independent journalism. Severe media problems exist in the Gambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo where one journalist was killed; there were also police raids on media outlets in Kenya and Nigeria. In the Australasian and Oceanic region, the coup in Fiji highlighted the fragility of press freedom.
In the Americas, 17 journalists were killed, including two in the Caribbean. Mexico, with seven journalists killed, remains the region’s most dangerous country and Cuba, with 25 journalists imprisoned, is the biggest jailer. There were two deaths in Venezuela, where the government is undermining private media, particularly broadcasting. In the United States, a series of criminal cases involving protection of journalists’ sources reinforced calls for a federal shield law. In Colombia, three journalists were killed for reporting on various issues.
Source: IPI (International Press Institute) :: IPI Publishes World Press Freedom Review 2006
Indexed under: Journalists Attacked