I couldn’t believe this headline when I saw it, but the numbers bear it out: according to a survey from the International News Safety Institute, over a thousand reporters have been killed in the past ten years during the course of their duties, or almost two deaths every week. Of course, reporting isn’t exactly the safest occupation in times of war, but apparently well over half of the deaths occurred under peacetime conditions. From the executive summary:

• At least 657 men and women were murdered — eliminated as they tried to shine light into the dark recesses of their societies — and only one in eight of their killers were prosecuted.
• In two-thirds of cases the killers were not even identified, and probably never will be, underlining the absence of full and proper investigations when a journalist or other news professional is killed.

To say that this is horrific is an understatement. The report gives several recommendations for governments, editors, and individual journalists on ways to minimize or eliminate the risks, but the sheer magnitude of the issue is scarcely fathomable. Sort of puts to rest those stories about how cushy a job journalism is supposed to be, eh?

source: editorsweblog.org