2006 – the most brutal year for journalists

With 100 journalists killed, 2006 was the most savage and brutal year in the history of the modern media. This is largely due to the targeting of local journalists in Iraq, which for the fourth time got the title of the most dangerous country for journalists and saw 46 reporters killed. These are the findings of the IPI World Press Freedom Review conducted in over 180 countries around the world. However, the murder of journalists in Afghanistan with 3 journalists killed, Pakistan (4), the Philippines (10), Columbia (3), Mexico (7), Russia (2) and Sri Lanka (5) also added to the overall figure. According to Johann Fritz, director of the International Press Institute (IPI), it is a “real war going on against journalism” and murders along with kidnapping made reporting in certain countries the most dangerous assignment ever handed to the media. Certain countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cuba, Gambia, Zimbabwe and Saudi Arabia are the biggest jailers, with an impressive number of journalists sentenced and convicted without reason. In Asia, 29 journalists were killed, ten of them in the Philippines. China heavily censors Internet activity, aided by international corporations, and violent assaults on journalists rose with two killings this year. The media struggles as well in countries like Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal were it turns to have one of the most violent aspects. In several African countries as well as in the Australasian and Oceanic region the situation is characterised as well by a striking number of killings, restrictive laws and fragility of press freedom. In Europe, where two journalists were killed, the murder of Novaya Gazeta journalist, Anna Politkovskaya, highlighted the dangers of reporting in Russia, and questioned the authorities’ desire to investigate such crimes. Since 1997, IPI has recorded the killing of 43 journalists in Russia. According to IPI 2006 has been more dangerous and brutal than 1999, when 86 media workers were assassinated. In 2005, 65 journalists were killed in comparison to 2004 when 78 were murdered.