GENEVA– At least 42 journalists around the world have been killed so far this year and governments should take action to protect reporters and bring their killers to justice, a global media protection body said yesterday.
The International News Safety Institute, INSI, said April was the bloodiest month for media in five years, with 17 journalists losing their lives, a rate of two every three days.
Yet in eight out of 10 cases in recent years, no one had been brought to justice for journalists’ deaths, the London-based group said in its report. “This is a stark reminder of the price we pay for our news around the world,” said Rodney Pinder, INSI director.
The worst years for media in recent history were 2007, when 172 journalists were killed, and 2006, when 168 died –many of them in Iraq. Most deaths however are among local journalists covering sensitive stories like high-level crime and corruption for national media. – (Reuters)