According to the International News Safety Institute in London, 134 journalists and media support staff were killed in the line of duty last year. The Philippines ranked third among the countries listed as the most dangerous for journalists with 14 media persons killed last year.
Overall, Syria remained as the country which is the most dangerous for journalists for the second year running. At least 20 journalists died in Syria, 16 died in Iraq, 14 died in the Philippines, 13 died in India and 9 died in Pakistan.
The International News Safety Institute is publishing an in-depth analysis of the causes, countries and circumstances in which members of the news media died last year. It said that over 92 per cent of those killed were local journalists. More print journalists were also killed than any other medium. It observed that more journalists were killed in peacetime than during armed conflict, and legal proceedings followed in only three cases
Carried out for INSI by the Cardiff School for Journalism in the United Kingdom, the annual report, entitled ‘Killing The Messenger’, provides information about the 134 journalists and media staff who were killed doing their work in 29 countries.
Syria and Pakistan retained their position among the world’s five most dangerous countries for journalists. Iraq, the Philippines and India were also in the top five this year.
The toll is down by almost 12 per cent compared to the 152 who died in 2012, although INSI is worried by what appears to be a rise in the numbers of assaults, threats and kidnappings of journalists – which go unreported for the most part, according to a report in its website
‘Killing the Messenger’ shows that 65 journalists lost their lives in armed conflict situations, however most journalists (69) were killed in peacetime covering issues such as crime and corruption. Most journalists were targeted, and shooting was the most common cause of death (63 percent of such cases). However, 18 died in accidents – eight of them on the road. Other accidents included four journalists killed by typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, one journalist killed on a construction site in China and one killed by an elephant in India.
Local journalists bore the brunt of the deadly violence aimed at news media with 123 (92 per cent) killed covering their own country.
Print journalists were the most at risk, with 45 killed doing their job.
Most of the killers of journalists enjoyed complete impunity, as ‘Killing The Messenger 2013’ found legal proceedings followed in only three cases. The great majority of the assailants remain unidentified, the report said.
The analysis is an annual follow-up to the initial ground-breaking “Killing the Messenger” report of 2006 which resulted from INSI’s global inquiry into journalists deaths over a 10 year period from 1996.
MOST DANGEROUS COUNTRIES for journalists
Syria: 20
Iraq: 16
Philippines: 14
India: 13
Pakistan: 9
Somalia: 8
Brazil: 6
Egypt: 6
Colombia: 4
Mexico: 4
Nigeria: 4
As a safety organisation, INSI records all deaths, whether deliberate, accidental or health-related, of all news media staff, support staff and freelancers while on assignment or as a result of their news organisation being attacked because of its work. (Eagle News Service)
