110 journalists killed in the line of duty worldwide
According to the International Press Institute, 110 journalists worldwide were killed in the exercise of their profession last year.
This is the highest number since 2000, explained the IPI in its annual report published in Vienna on Thursday, according to SDA. Iran is named as the country with the highest number of imprisoned journalists: More than a hundred reporters and bloggers have been detained there since the disputed presidential election in June.
"While the transition to the new millennium has been accompanied by enormous technological progress, we are still deep in barbarism when it comes to the targeted killing of journalists simply doing their job," writes the author of the report, Anthony Mills. The murder of 30 journalists in the Philippines in November had a serious impact. The Asian country thus tops the list of life-threatening countries for journalists with a total of 38 reporters killed, followed by Mexico (eleven) and Somalia (nine). It is followed by Pakistan, Colombia, Russia and Honduras.
Targeted attacks on journalists
Mills describes a new development in war zones such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, where journalists are being specifically targeted. This has changed reporting on these conflicts, he says, with less coverage and a loss of understanding of these complex processes.
The IPI accuses the government in Tehran of censoring and banning publications, expelling foreign journalists and subjecting others to "unjust trials and torture". At the end of last year, dozens of journalists were still in custody awaiting trial. Overall, it is "still the accepted norm in the Middle East and North Africa that those who kill, attack and intimidate journalists go unpunished".
"While the transition to the new millennium has been accompanied by enormous technological progress, we are still deep in barbarism when it comes to the targeted killing of journalists simply doing their job," writes the author of the report, Anthony Mills. The murder of 30 journalists in the Philippines in November had a serious impact. The Asian country thus tops the list of life-threatening countries for journalists with a total of 38 reporters killed, followed by Mexico (eleven) and Somalia (nine). It is followed by Pakistan, Colombia, Russia and Honduras.
Targeted attacks on journalists
Mills describes a new development in war zones such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, where journalists are being specifically targeted. This has changed reporting on these conflicts, he says, with less coverage and a loss of understanding of these complex processes.
The IPI accuses the government in Tehran of censoring and banning publications, expelling foreign journalists and subjecting others to "unjust trials and torture". At the end of last year, dozens of journalists were still in custody awaiting trial. Overall, it is "still the accepted norm in the Middle East and North Africa that those who kill, attack and intimidate journalists go unpunished".
