‘Phl no longer among deadliest countries for journalists’

BAGUIO CITY , Philippines   â€“ The Philippines is no longer listed among countries tagged as the most deadly places for journalists, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in its yearend report.

Syria has remained as the most deadly place for journalists in 2013, while Iraq and Egypt each saw a spike in fatal violence, the CPJ said.

At least 70 journalists were killed for their work this year, slightly lower than the 74 deaths in 2012. The killings were mostly in the Middle East, which accounts for two-thirds of the cases.

The long-standing conflict in Syria has claimed the lives of at least 29 journalists in 2013, bringing the number of journalists killed while covering the conflict to 63. 

In Iraq, violence returned to levels not seen since 2011 with 10 journalists killed on the job. 

Egypt also experienced an increase in deaths in 2013, with six journalists killed for their work. 

“The Middle East has become a killing field for journalists. While the number of journalists killed for their work has declined in some places, the civil war in Syria and a renewal of sectarian attacks in Iraq have taken an agonizing toll,” said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney in the report.    

“The international community must prevail on all governments and armed groups to respect the civilian status of reporters and to prosecute the killers of journalists,” he added.

But the CPJ said that even with the continuing dangers to journalists in Pakistan and Somalia, the number of confirmed work-related deaths in these countries declined in 2013 to five and four, respectively.

Brazil and Russia, the host countries of next year’s World Cup and Olympics, saw three and two journalists killed, respectively. 

The CPJ also reported that about 60 journalists were abducted during the year and about 30 are missing. 

Different findings

The CPJ report, however, is contradictory to the findings of Paris-based press freedom watchdog Reporters sans frontires (Reporters Without Borders).

In its annual roundup released earlier, RSF said the Philippines is fifth among the “worst five deadliest countries for media in 2013.”

Last November, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said the country has also maintained its tag as the “third worst country for working journalists” by the International Federation of Journalists.

However, RSF also tagged Syria, Somalia, Pakistan and India as deadly places for journalism.

RSF said India and the Philippines have replaced Mexico and Brazil on the list, although the number of journalists killed in Brazil, which is five, is the same as last year.

In Mexico, two journalists were killed while three others disappeared. 

The RSF Annual Index also said that the regions with the largest numbers of journalists killed in connection with their work are Asia (24) and the Middle East and North Africa (23).    

Of the 71 journalists killed in 2013, 37 percent worked for the print media, 30 percent for radio, 30 percent for TV, and three percent for news websites.

A majority of the victims or 96 percent were men. 

Although the number of journalists killed in connection with their work in 2013 fell by 20 percent compared with last year’s figures, 2012 was an “exceptionally deadly” year with 88 journalists killed.