Two newsgatherers killed every week
- 7 Mar 07, 12:27 PM
We've launched the report of the into the deaths of journalists around the world. Killing the Messenger: The Deadly Price of News has been 18 months' work involving regional inquiries in Asia, the Middle East, North and South America, and Europe. It was launched on World Press Freedom Day in 2005 when I was asked to chair it. The School of Journalism at Cardiff University has worked with us to analyse all the available data on the deaths of journalists and support staff going back ten years. The headlines:
• More than a thousand have been killed - an average of two a week.
• Only one in four is killed in armed conflict - the majority are local journalists working on stories in their own countries.
• More than 670 of them have been murdered - and the majority of killers are never identified or brought to justice.
• There is a widespread culture of impunity in many countries where killing a journalist is risk-free.
In addition, the report makes a number of recommendations for greater safety and for taking the issue out to the international community for them to understand the impact on free speech and economic and democratic development. When a journalist is killed we all hear and see a little less.
A PDF of the report is (warning it's over 100 pages long).
Richard Sambrook is director, Global News
