Friday 17 December 2010

Pakistan now 'deadliest' country for journalists


Pakistan became the world’s deadliest country for the press in 2010, with at least eight journalists killed there in connection with their work and a growing nunber of suicide attacks, the Committee to Protect Journalists reports in its year-end analysis.

According to the CPJ, at least 42 journalists were killed around the world in 2010, with Iraq, Mexico, and Honduras also ranking high for journalism-related fatalities.

The worldwide toll reflects a drop from 2009, when a massacre in the Philippine province of Maguindanao drove the number of work-related deaths to a record 72.

“The Philippine massacre and the conflict in Iraq pushed the number of journalists killed in recent years to record levels,” said CPJ executive director Joel Simon. “The killing of 42 journalists in 2010, while a decline over previous years, is still unacceptably high and reflective of the pervasive violence journalists confront around the world.

"From Afghanistan to Mexico, Thailand to Russia, the failure of governments to investigate crimes against the press contributes to a climate of impunity that ultimately fuels further violence.”

Internet-based journalists constitute an increasing portion of CPJ’s death toll. At least six journalists who worked primarily online were killed in 2010. Internet journalists rarely appeared in CPJ’s death toll until 2008, when online reporters doing front-line investigative work began to be targeted with violence.

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