Journalist Deaths Worst in Nine Years

There were 53 journalists killed on the job last year throughout the world, with Iraq – not surprisingly – being named the most dangerous country for the second year running.

Paris based media watchdog group, Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF), says media freedom is having a hard time: “It’s being attacked, trampled on, disdained or ignored everywhere in the world.

“The number of journalists killed in 2004 is the worst since 1995. And, 107 journalists were in prison around the world for doing their jobs as of 1 January 2005. In Iraq, 19 reporters died last year and more than a dozen were kidnapped; 16 others were killed in Asia, most for their beliefs.”

Journalists also faced the threat of physical harm in parts of Africa and the Americas, but RSF has hailed cracks across the globe in what it calls a nearly ‘solid wall of impunity’ for those accused of killing reporters on the job.

The watchdog group has praised the fact that suspects in Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Nicaragua, Peru and the Philippines were convicted or at least arrested and charged. China has retained RSF’s dubious distinction as the ‘world’s biggest prison for journalists’, detaining 25% of the 107 reporters behind bars worldwide. Cuba ranks second with 22 reporters held, followed by Eritrea (14) and Myanmar (11).

RSF says at least 907 journalists were arrested in 2004, another 1146 physically attacked or threatened and 622 media outlets suffered censorship.