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IMPORTANT FOR SAFETY, SECURITY, RIGHTS, JUSTICE, DIGNITY OF WOMEN IN MEDIA ALL OVER THE WORLD
http://www.rferl.org/content/cpj-international-journalist-deaths-soared-2014/26758613.html
MEDIA MONITORING AGENCY CPJ SAYS INTERNATIONAL JOURNALIST DEATHS SOARED IN 2014
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) promotes press freedom worldwide and defends the right of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal. CPJ ensures the free flow of news and commentary by taking action wherever journalists are attacked, imprisoned, killed, kidnapped, threatened, censored, or harassed. https://www.cpj.org/about/video.php
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International Journalists Killed at High Rate in 2014 – Middle East Deadliest Region
Syria is the
world’s deadliest country for journalists for the third year in a row.
International journalists were killed at a higher rate in 2014 than in recent
years.
During a
demonstration in Pakistan, journalists hold photos of Anja Niedringhaus, an AP
photographer who was killed in Afghanistan in April. (Reuters/Faisal Mahmood)
By Shazdeh Omari
– December 23, 2014
An unusually high
proportion of journalists killed in relation to their work in 2014 were
international journalists, as correspondents crossed borders to cover conflict
and dangerous situations in the Middle East, Ukraine, and Afghanistan, the
Committee to Protect Journalists found in its annual analysis.
Reflecting in
part the increasingly volatile nature of conflict zones in which Westerners are
often deliberately targeted, nearly one quarter of the journalists killed this
year were members of the international press, about double the proportion CPJ
has documented in recent years. Over
time, according to CPJ research, about nine out of every 10 journalists killed
are local people covering local stories.
In total, at
least 60 journalists were killed
globally in 2014 in relation to their work, compared with 70 who died in 2013. CPJ is investigating the
deaths in 2014 of at least 18 more journalists to determine whether they were
work-related.
The danger of
working as an international correspondent gained renewed attention in April
this year as Anja
Niedringhaus, a German photographer for The Associated Press, was
shot dead by a police officer in Afghanistan while covering elections. In
August, U.S. freelance journalist James Foley was executed
by members of militant group Islamic State, which published an online video of
the murder. Foley had been kidnapped in Syria in November 2012, but his
whereabouts were unknown. Two weeks after his murder, Islamic State published
another video showing the beheading
of U.S.-Israeli freelance journalist Steven Sotloff, who had
been abducted in August 2013.
Despite increased
risks to Western journalists working in conflict zones, the overwhelming
majority of journalists under threat for their work continue to be local. For
example, of the approximately 20 journalists CPJ estimates to be currently
missing in Syria—many of whom are believed to be held by Islamic State—most are
local.
In total, the
Syrian conflict led to the deaths
of at least 17 journalists in 2014, bringing to 79 the overall number of
journalists killed in the country since the conflict began in 2011. The growing
death toll led Syria to replace the Philippines as the second deadliest place
for journalists since CPJ began documenting journalist killings in 1992.
In Iraq, at least
five journalists were killed
this year, three of whom were covering clashes between the Iraqi government and
its allies against the Islamic State-led insurgency. One of them, Khalid Ali Hamada,
a cameraman for Al-Ahad TV, was killed in June 2014 while covering clashes in
Diyala province between Iraqi security forces and Islamic State gunmen,
according to news reports.
The mother
of Egyptian journalist Mayada Ashraf mourns at her funeral. Ashraf was shot
dead while covering clashes in eastern Cairo. (AFP/Ahmed Mahmoud)
At least four
journalists and three media workers were killed while covering the 50
days of conflict in July and August in Israel and the
Occupied Palestinian Territories, in which more than 2,100 Palestinians,
most of them civilians, and 73 Israelis were killed.
On July 9, a driver for the local agency Media 24 was killed when his car,
marked “Press,” was hit by an Israeli strike.
The deaths of at
least five journalists and two media workers in Ukraine this year were the
first journalism-related killings CPJ has confirmed in Ukraine since 2001. All
but one of those killed were international journalists. CPJ documented frequent press freedom
violations in the country in 2014, including attacks,
the detention
and abduction
of journalists, and blocked
broadcasts.
In Pakistan, which ranks
among the most dangerous places for the press over time, three journalists were
killed for their work, a decline from previous years. Yet violence against
journalists continued: In April, Geo News senior anchor Hamid Mir was shot six times
as he was leaving Karachi’s main airport, but survived. In March, gunmen shot
at the car of TV anchor Raza Rumi,
who escaped serious injury. His driver was killed.
At least three
journalists were killed in Paraguay in 2014, the
first time since 2007 that CPJ confirmed a media-related death in the country.
Two of the journalists were radio hosts. In the northern city of Concepción in
June, Edgar Pantaleón
Fernández Fleitas was shot dead after hosting a radio program in
which he accused local judges, lawyers, and officials in the Attorney General’s
office of corruption.
Some journalists
were caught on the
frontlines of reporting on the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus.
In Guinea, the bodies of a radio journalist and two media workers were found
dumped in a sewer in the village of Womé, where they had traveled to cover a
delegation’s public health awareness campaign.
Turkey saw its
first media-related killing in many years. On October 14, Kadir Baðdu was on his
bicycle delivering issues of the pro-Kurdish daily Azadiya Welat in the
city of Adana when he was shot by two men on a motorcycle. An editor at the
daily told CPJ that the publication frequently receives threats via phone and
email. Authorities claim that the pro-Kurdish media are aligned with the banned
Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, and the KCK, an umbrella group of pro-Kurdish
organizations, according to CPJ research.
In Burma, the
military said in October it had shot and killed a Burmese freelance
reporter while holding him in custody in southeastern Mon state. The
killing was the first journalism-related
death CPJ has documented in Burma since 2007. Press freedom
conditions in the country deteriorated in 2014, with at least 10 journalists imprisoned on anti-state
charges.
Some other trends
that emerged from CPJ’s research:
·
The total number
of deaths in 2014 demonstrates the sustained level of risk to journalists over
the past decade. The past three years are the most deadly period CPJ has
recorded.
·
·
Almost half of
the journalists killed in 2014 died in the Middle East. Around 38 percent of
the total died in combat or crossfire.
·
·
CPJ documented
its first-ever journalist killing in Central African Republic, where clashes
between various rebel groups and government forces led to deadly violence.
·
·
At least one journalist was killed
in the Philippines, a country that now ranks third among the world’s deadliest
for the press. Another witness in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, in which 32
journalists and media workers were killed, was shot dead
in November, bringing to four the number of witnesses killed, according to CPJ
research. Not one person
has been convicted in the massacre.
·
·
More than 40
percent of the journalists killed in 2014 were targeted for murder. About 31
percent of journalists murdered reported receiving threats first.
·
Eight of the
countries that saw a journalist murdered during 2014 are listed on CPJ’s 2014 Impunity Index,
which spotlights countries where journalists are regularly murdered and the
killers go free.
·
·
The most common
job held by journalists killed in 2014 was broadcast reporter, at 35 percent,
followed by photographer and camera operator, at 27 percent.
·
About 68 percent
of the journalists killed in 2014 covered politics, with the next deadliest
beat for reporters being war, at 60 percent, followed by human rights, at 55
percent.
CPJ began
compiling detailed records on all journalist deaths in 1992. CPJ staff members
independently investigate and verify the circumstances behind each death. CPJ
considers a case work-related only when its staff is reasonably certain that a
journalist was killed in direct reprisal for his or her work; in combat-related
crossfire; or while carrying out a dangerous assignment.
If the motives in
a killing are unclear, but it is possible that a journalist died in relation to
his or her work, CPJ classifies the case as “unconfirmed” and continues to
investigate. CPJ’s list does not include journalists who died of illness or
were killed in car or plane accidents unless the crash was caused by hostile
action. Other press organizations using different criteria cite higher numbers
of deaths than CPJ.
CPJ’s database of
journalists killed for their work in 2014
includes capsule reports on each victim and a statistical analysis. CPJ also
maintains a database of all journalists killed since
1992.