‘Philippines among top 5 deadliest places for journalists’

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – Because four media workers were killed in the country for unclear reasons in 2015, the France-based Reporters San Frontieres (RSF) or Reporters Without Borders still listed the Philippines among the world’s top five deadliest places for journalists.

Although the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in its yearend analysis, lifted the Philippines – for the first time since 2007 – from the “World’s Most Deadly Countries for Journalists” list, the RSF explained that the 2015 killings are “indicative of the failure of initiatives designed to protect journalists.”

The RSF placed the Philippines in fifth spot together with Honduras, which had seven journalist killings this year.

Topping the list is Iraq with 11 journalists killed (nine in relation to work, two for unclear reasons).

Syria is in second place with nine work-related and one non-work killings while France, which had eight work-related killings, and Yemen, six work-related and two unclear killings, were tied at third.

In fourth place are South Sudan (six work-related, one unclear); India (five work-related, four unclear), and Mexico (three work-related, five unclear).

The very high number of journalists killed (787 since 2005) in the line of duty or in relation to it is because “there is an increasingly deliberate use of violence against journalists,” the RSF reported.