80 journalists killed this year

In this May 16, 2017 file photo, a woman places a candle in front of pictures of murdered journalists Miroslava Breach, left, and Javier Valdez during a demonstration against the killing of journalists, outside the Interior Ministry in Mexico City. More than three dozen Mexican media organizations announced Monday, Dec. 4, 2017 that they are joining forces to try to combat a wave of journalist killings in the country, including at least nine this year. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

So far this year, at least 80 journalists have been killed while doing their job, the international journalist organization IFJ states.

 

The organization International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) presented its annual “Kill Report” on Saturday. Here it appears that 81 journalists lost their lives, most of them due to: being targeted, involved in car bombs or accidentally shot, around the world. The list is up to date till 29 December this year.

Of the 80 killed, eight women were killed, two of whom were killed in Europe. One was Swedish Kim Wall, who died onboard the submarine of Danish inventor Peter Madsen, while the other was the investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed by a car bomb in Malta.

The figure shows a slight decline from last year of 93 journalists killed. At the same time, the volume of violence and threats to journalists has increased significantly this year compared with previous years, according to the report.

“Although the number of killed is lower, the level of violence against journalists is unacceptably high,” said IFJ President Philippe Leruth in a comment.

Most journalists murdered this year happened in Mexico, with a total of 13 killed. But many were also killed in conflict zones like Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.

According to the report, more than 250 journalists were imprisoned in 2017.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today