Environmental journalists facing deadly woes

MANILA, Philippines - Environmental journalists are also facing a deadly environment, particularly in Asia.

Environmental journalists are murdered, threatened, harassed, jailed and bribed in relation to their work, according to the report “Hostile climate for environmental journalists”  by the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) released.

The RSF report also said 10 environmental journalists were murdered since 2010 and 90 percent of the murders occurred in South Asia, including the Philippines, Cambodia and Indonesia.

This includes the murder of Puerto Princesa environmentalist and broadcaster Gerry Ortega in Palawan in January 2011. Ortega was gunned down in broad daylight shortly after hosting his daily radio program.

One of the suspects, Marlon Racamata, was caught and accused former Palawan governor Joel Reyes and his brother Mario as the masterminds of the Ortega slay. The Reyes brothers were caught in Thailand in October, after more than four years since the murder. The Recesses have been charged and will face trial.

In India, reporters Jagendra Singh and Sandeep Kothari were killed this year.

Six Peruvian journalists, on the other hand, were harassed and roughed up in the spring of 2015. In Uzbekistan, freelance journalist Solidzhon Abdurakhmanov has languished in prison for the past seven years. These journalists investigated sensitive environmental subjects such as illegal logging, mining and pollution, the RSF report added.

Some governments reportedly resort to censorship whenever they are blamed for environmental problems.

The RSF cited the instance when the Chinese Communist Party quickly removed from websites the online documentary about air pollution in Beijing titled “Under The Dome” after it went viral in March.

In Ecuador, legislation prevents journalists from covering oil drilling in the Yasuni National Park, where the biological diversity is internationally recognized.

In Canada, the government reportedly gagged federal scientists to prevent them from talking to journalists about the drawbacks of extracting oil from tar sands.

Some environmental journalists, on the other hand, were approached by companies involved in projects likely to endanger the environment.

The RSF said a British company with a concession to explore for oil in Virunga National Park bribed reporters in Democratic Republic of Congo to buy their silence.

Canadian reporter Stephen Leahy was also offered money by a Canadian mining company to stop investigating its activities.

In the face of environmental degradation, RSF said “particular attention should be paid to the journalists who take greats risk to investigate sensitive, environment-related subjects.” These reporters are increasingly exposed to many kinds of pressure, threats and violence.

“The violence against these women and men who investigate in the field, often alone, has reached an unprecedented level in 2015,” RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said in a statement.

“We need to realize that the highly sensitive nature of this subject only too often causes grave problems for those trying to shed light on pollution and other forms of environmental degradation. Their meticulous but dangerous work of gathering and disseminating information is nonetheless vital if we are to achieve the badly needed increase in awareness of the dangers threatening our planet.”