RSF Releases New Record Of Journalists Killed In Past 20 Years

An analysis released by Reporters Without Borders found that over the previous 20 years, there have been about 1,700 journalist deaths globally, more than 80 each year on average.

According to the Paris-based media rights activists, the two decades between 2003 and 2022 were “particularly dangerous decades for those in the service of the freedom to inform.”

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“Behind the figures, there are the faces, personalities, talent and commitment of those who have paid with their lives for their information gathering, their search for the truth and their passion for journalism,” RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said.

According to RSF, the two nations with the most risk for journalists were Iraq and Syria, where “a combined total of 578 journalists slain in the past 20 years, or more than a third of the worldwide total,” occurred.

Following them are Mexico (125 fatalities), the Philippines (107), Pakistan (93), Afghanistan (81) and Somalia (107 fatalities) (78).

In large part because of the Syrian crisis, 2012 and 2013 were the “darkest years.” The report stated that 144 people were killed in 2012 and 142 the following year.

After this peak, there was a “gradual dip” and “historically low figures from 2019 onwards,” according to the report.

Russia President,Vladimir Putin’s Influence

However, deaths surged once more in 2022, in part as a result of the conflict in Ukraine. 58 journalists have died while performing their professions so far this year, up from 51 in 2021.

Since Russia’s invasion in February, eight journalists have died in Ukraine. Comparatively, over the previous 19 years, there had been a total of 12 media fatalities there.

After Russia itself, where 25 journalists have been slain in the previous 20 years, which presently ranks second in terms of media danger in Europe, Ukraine is the region.

“Since (President) Vladimir Putin took over, Russia has seen systematic attacks on press freedom -– including deadly ones –- as RSF has repeatedly reported.

“They include Anna Politkovskaya’s high-profile murder on 7 October 2006,” the rights group said.

Turkey was rated the third most hazardous country in Europe, followed by France “as a result of the massacre at the satirical monthly Charlie Hebdo in Paris in 2015,” according to the report.

The Americas Toll

In places where there has been armed conflict, reporters face the greatest dangers internationally.

Nevertheless, RSF emphasized that “countries where no war is officially waging are not necessarily safe for reporters and several of them are near the top of the list of those where killings have happened.

“In fact, more journalists have been killed in ‘zones at peace’ than in ‘zones at war’ during the past two decades, in most cases because they were investigating organised crime and corruption.”

Nearly half of all journalist murders occurred in the Americas, with many taking place in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, and Honduras.

“America is nowadays clearly the world’s most dangerous continent for the media,” RSF said.