More Than 100 Journalists Killed In 2015, Most In ‘Peaceful’ Countries

A total of 110 journalists were killed in connection with
their work or for unclear reasons in 2015, according to the round-up published
today by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which is in a position to say that 67
of them were targeted because of their work or were killed while reporting.

These 67 deaths bring to 787 the total number of journalists
killed in connection with their work since 2005. It has not been possible to
clearly establish the circumstances or motives of this year’s 43 other deaths
of journalists. Twenty-seven citizen-journalists and seven media workers were also
killed in 2015.

This disturbing situation is largely attributable to
deliberate violence against journalists and is indicative of the failure of the
initiatives so far taken to protect media personnel.

A European country, France, was one of the deadliest
countries for journalists in 2015. It ranked third, after Syria and Iraq. The
January attack on Charlie Hebdo contributed to a reversal of last year’s trend,
when two thirds of the deaths occurred in war zones. This year, two thirds of
the deaths were in countries “at peace.”