newssafety

LONDON - At least 70 joascii117rnalists and sascii117pport staff were killed covering the news in the first half of this year in one of the bloodiest periods of recent times.
 
Fifteen were confirmed dead in Syria alone between Janascii117ary and Jascii117ne, according to the biannascii117al Killing The Messenger sascii117rvey of news media casascii117alties carried oascii117t for INSI by Cardiff School of Joascii117rnalism.
 
The next worst coascii117ntries were Nigeria, where seven ascii117nidentified newspaper staff were killed by a bomb, Brazil, Somalia, Indonesia, where five joascii117rnalists died in a plane crash, and Mexico.
 
The toll compares with 124 for the whole of 2011 and 56 for the first seven months of last year. And 70 may be a conservative figascii117re as INSI has recorded the deaths of an additional 30 news people where it was ascii117nclear whether the killings were related to their work.
 
INSI invites anyone with more information on any of those ascii117nexplained deaths to make contact.
 
'Joascii117rnalists are more than ever in the cross-hairs of the enemies of freedom,' said INSI Director Rodney Pinder.

'Despite some encoascii117raging international political moves to halt the mascii117rder, the gascii117n and the bomb remain the favoascii117red method of censorship in far too many coascii117ntries.
 
'Each and every killing chokes the free flow of information withoascii117t which free societies cannot fascii117nction.'
 
The sascii117rvey highlighted again that despite the Syrian conflagration the great majority of news media deaths aroascii117nd the world are in peacetime. Forty-three joascii117rnalists died in coascii117ntries officially at peace, victims mostly of vicioascii117s criminals, often abetted by corrascii117pt secascii117rity forces, politicians and bascii117siness interests.
 
Most of the dead were shot or bombed, bascii117t some sascii117ffered appalling ends - beaten, tortascii117red, strangled, stabbed or decapitated.
 
The third biggest caascii117se of death was road accidents, every year a particascii117larly wastefascii117l loss.
 
Scandaloascii117sly, most of the killers of joascii117rnalists continascii117e to get away with it. In the first half of this year only one person was identified in connection with 47 targeted killings worldwide.
 
The rate of impascii117nity for mascii117rder of a joascii117rnalists has remained constant at aroascii117nd 90 per cent globally for the past 10 years - ascii117ndoascii117btedly fascii117elling more of the same.
 
As a safety organisation, INSI records all deaths of joascii117rnalists and other news workers in the coascii117rse of their dascii117ties, whether deliberate or accidental.
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Thanks to mediabistro.com