Journalist Deaths Hit Five-Year Low

By: Joe Strupp The worldwide journalist death toll dropped in 2008 to a five-year low as 60 news people were killed around the globe, a sharp decline from the 87 who lost their lives in 2007, according to Reporters Without Borders. The organization reports this year?s figure as the lowest since 2003 when 43 were killed.

?The Asia-Pacific and Maghreb-Middle East regions are still the deadliest for the press,? the group?s annual report stated. ?After Iraq (with 15 journalists killed), the two countries with the highest death tolls are Pakistan (7 killed) and the Philippines (6 killed). The bloodshed continues in Mexico, where four journalists were murdered in connection with their work. The fall in the death toll in Africa (from 12 in 2007 to 3 in 2008) is due above all to the fact that many journalists stopped working, often going into exile, and to the gradual disappearance of news media in war zones such as Somalia.?

The reported added that: ?the number of arrests (for periods of more than 48 hours) is particularly high in Africa, where it is almost routine for journalists to end up in police cells when they upset senior officials or cover subjects that are off-limits. In Iraq (31 arrests), the US military?s handling of the security situation often results in Iraqi journalists, including those working for foreign news media, being imprisoned. In China (38 arrests), many cases of detention were attributable to the Olympics. In Burma (17 arrests), outspoken journalists and bloggers were jailed in a crackdown by the military government.?

Other 2008 data on violence and journalistic repression globally:

One media assistant killed, 673 journalists arrested, 929 physically attacked or threatened, 353 media outlets censored, 29 journalists kidnapped.

As pertains to the Internet, one blogger was killed,
59 were arrested, 45 were physically attacked, and
1,740 websites were blocked, shut down or suspended.

?The fall in the number of journalists from the traditional media killed or arrested in 2008 does not mean the press freedom situation has improved,? the report stressed. ?As the print and broadcast media evolve and the blogosphere becomes a worldwide phenomenon, predatory activity is increasingly focusing on the Internet.?

?Governments are increasingly responding with imprisonment to criticism by bloggers,? it added. ?In China, 10 cyber-dissidents were arrested, 31 were physically attacked or threatened, and at least three were tried and convicted. In Iran, Reporters Without Borders registered 18 arrests, 31 physical attacks and 10 convictions. Online free expression is also curtailed in Syria (8 arrests and 3 convictions), Egypt (6 arrests) and Morocco (2 arrests and 2 convictions).?

The entire report can be found at:
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=29797