Print    Email

Email To		[Close]
		You must make entries in all fields
Your Email
Your Name
Send to Email
		Send

World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) has reported that, sixty-four journalists and other media workers were killed world-wide because of their professional activities in 2011, with nearly half of them killed in Pakistan, Iraq, Libya and Yemen.

For the second consecutive year, 10 journalists were killed in Pakistan, making it again the most deadly country for journalists.

It also remarked that Arab region is considered as a haunted place for media professionals as it took lives of 22 journos. The brutal repression that followed widespread popular uprisings in Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen cost the lives of sixteen journalists. Journalism in Iraq remains a dangerous profession, as six journalists lost their lives in the country last year.

Talking about the western hemisphere, Mexico is also unsafe for media professionals with six journalists been killed in '11, as coverage of organised crime and corruption have put journalists in the line of fire.

The 2011 death toll, released after an investigation into all potential media murders, compares with 66 killed in 2010, 99 killed in 2009, 70 killed in 2008, 95 killed in 2007 and 110 killed in 2006. 

The full lists can be found at http://www.wan-ifra.org/microsites/journalists-killed

Though many journalists are killed covering war and conflict, they’re also targeted and murdered in many countries for investigating organised crime, drug trafficking, corruption and other crimes. They are often killed with impunity, with nobody brought to justice for the murders in the majority of cases.

"When journalists are attacked and killed merely for doing their jobs, the entire society suffers, “ said Christoph Riess, CEO of WAN-IFRA. "The right of all citizens to the free flow of information is diminished by these acts. These murders must be prosecuted thoroughly and the perpetrators brought to justice."

Journalists and other media workers were killed in 27 countries in 2011: Afghanistan (2); Azerbaijan (1); Bahrain (1); Brazil (3); Colombia (1); Democratic Republic of Congo (1); Dominican Republic (1); Egypt (2); Honduras (1); India (2); Iraq (6); Libya (5); Mexico (6); Pakistan (10); Panama (1); Paraguay (1); Peru (2); Philippines (2); Russia (1); Sierra Leone (1); Somalia (3); Syria (1); Thailand (1); Tunisia (1); Uganda (1); Vietnam (1); and Yemen (6).