According to a new report from AP, independent journalists worldwide are still facing a huge threat in doing their jobs.
At least 81 reporters were killed doing their jobs this year, while violence and harassment against media staff has skyrocketed, the world’s biggest journalists’ organization says.
In its annual “Kill Report,†seen by The Associated Press, the International Federation of Journalists said the reporters lost their lives in targeted killings, car bomb attacks and crossfire incidents around the world.
More than 250 journalists were in prison in 2017.
The number of deaths as of Dec. 29 was the lowest in a decade, down from 93 in 2016. The largest number were killed in Mexico, but many also died in conflict zones in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.
The numbers might be bad but they don’t tell the entire story.
Beyond the deaths, the IFJ warned that “unprecedented numbers of journalists were jailed, forced to flee, that self-censorship was widespread and that impunity for the killings, harassment, attacks and threats against independent journalism was running at epidemic levels.â€
Turkey, where official pressure on the media has been ramped up since a failed coup attempt in July 2016, is becoming notorious for putting reporters behind bars. Some 160 journalists are jailed in Turkey — two-thirds of the global total — the report said.
Here is the list of most journalism deaths by country.
Countries with the highest numbers of media killings:
Mexico: 13
Afghanistan: 11
Iraq: 11
Syria: 10
India: 6
Philippines: 4
Pakistan: 4
Nigeria: 3
Somalia: 3
Honduras: 3
A few things to keep in mind here. The first is just how dangerous it is to be a journalist in many of these foreign countries. While the media in our country whine about being called out for publishing fake stories journalists overseas are having to risk their lives to report the truth. The next is the fact the amount of deaths means little. The reason for this is because of the amount that are jailed for their work or forced to stop. Although, it is better than being dead as it pertains to the status of journalism worldwide it matters little. Islamic Nations and Mexico make up the majority of the countries where we saw Journalists being killed.
