International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

Violence against journalists is universal, found everywhere there is journalism. But the level and type of violence vary according to a series of factors, involving the general level of violence in a society or political system, the level of professionalism in the news media, and the extent to which violent action is useful in representing public opinion. Violence against journalists almost always includes a symbolic dimension; in some cases, the violence is primarily symbolic. Several organizations track violence against journalists worldwide. Reporters without Borders reports the number of journalists killed each year: 2006 (82), 2005 (63), 2004 (53), 2003 (40), 2002 (25). The Committee to Protect Journalists has been issuing an annual report, “Attacks on the press,” for more than a decade (the reports from 1996 on are available online). The International News Safety Institute , a clearinghouse for a variety of journalism and human rights groups, reported in 2007 that more than 1,000 men and women had been killed in the previous 10 years while on the job. Their report lists 167 deaths for 2006, more than double the figure from Reporters without Borders, probably because the News Safety Institute included auxiliary personnel, like translators. The deadliest locations were in Iraq, Russia, and Colombia, countries that all had high levels of crime and civil unrest or both. These ... log in or subscribe to read full text