64 JOURNALISTS KILLED WORLDWIDE IN 2007, MOST SINCE ’94
By Adam B. Ellick

The New York Times
Late Edition – Final
December 18, 2007 Tuesday

More journalists have been killed worldwide in 2007 than in any year
since 1994, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, an
independent group that promotes press freedom and defends the rights
of journalists.

In the committee’s annual report to be released Tuesday, 64 journalists
died in circumstances linked to their work in 2007.

Nearly half of those deaths, 31, took place in Iraq, which was ranked
as the deadliest country for journalists for the fifth consecutive
year. Most of the killings were targeted attacks, as opposed to deaths
caused by cross-fire, according to the committee.

In Africa, the number of deaths rose to 10 this year from 2 in 2006,
according to the committee’s report. Somalia, the second deadliest
country in 2007, accounted for 7 of those deaths.

The committee’s annual report tallies the deaths of journalists that
result directly from combat, violence or a direct reprisal for a
journalist’s work, like the assassination of the Turkish-Armenian
editor Hrant Dink, who was killed in January on a street in Istanbul.

The report covers the period from Jan. 1 through Monday.

In Iraq, the committee cites "unidentified gunmen, suicide bombers,
and American military activity" as the main contributors to the deaths.

"Working as a journalist in Iraq remains one of the most dangerous
jobs on the planet," said Joel Simon, the executive director of the
committee, which is based in New York. "These journalists gave their
lives so that all of us could be informed about what is happening
in Iraq."

A mounting problem in Iraq is that international news agencies are
circumventing their limited mobility by passing dangerous assignments
to nonprofessionals who lack proper training, said Tala Dowlatshahi of
Reporters Without Borders, another group that promotes press freedom.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, all but one of
the 31 victims in Iraq were Iraqi citizens, and 9 of them worked for
international news outlets. Since the war began in March 2003, 124
journalists and 49 support staff members have been killed in Iraq,
according to the committee.

In Africa, border disputes and tribal conflicts have created an
increasingly dangerous climate for journalists. According to Reporters
Without Borders’ 2007 index, Eritrea replaced North Korea as the
worst country for press freedom.

Three Mexican journalists were killed in 2007, all of whom were
reporting on ties between drug traffickers and the nation’s police
force and government, according to the committee. The committee’s
report cites a safer climate in Colombia, where no journalists were
killed for the first time in 15 years, and in the Philippines, which
had no work-related deaths for the first time in 9 years and has long
been atop the list of the most deadly countries for journalists.

Still, cases in each country remain under investigation.

In the United States, the lone victim in 2007 was Chauncey Bailey,
the editor in chief of The Oakland Post, a California weekly, who
was killed while reporting on the finances of a local bakery.

The 64 worldwide deaths cited by the Committee to Protect Journalists
are 8 more than in 2006, and the second highest number since the
committee started tracking journalist deaths in 1981. The most lethal
year was 1994, when conflicts in Rwanda, Bosnia and Algeria contributed
to the deaths of 66 journalists.

In a separate tally, the committee counted 20 killings of news media
staff members, like translators, guards and drivers, in 2007.

The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists reported
that 175 journalists and support staff members died as a result of
violence or accidents this year, including 69 in Iraq. Its results
are on pace to match the results from last year, which according to
federation figures was the deadliest year for journalists since it
started tracking causalities a decade ago.