The massacre of 30 media workers in the Philippines last month made this year the deadliest year ever for journalists, a report released yesterday showed.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent press advocacy group, says at least 68 journalists were killed this year, a 60 percent increase over last year, when 42 deaths were recorded.
“What stands out is that three quarters are killed deliberately for their work, and in 85 percent of these cases no one is brought to justice,” CPJ deputy director Robert Mahoney said in a telephone interview on Wednesday. “This has a poisonous effect on good journalism.”
Until the massacre in the Philippine province of Maguindanao, where 57 people including 30 journalists were killed, this year seemed likely to end with 38 killings.
The previous one-year record was in 2007, when 67 killings were recorded.
Mahoney said the latest figures still represented a disturbing trend, especially in Somalia, where nine journalists were murdered and killed in combat situations.
Four journalists were also killed in Pakistan, making it the second most deadly country this year, followed by Russia, where three journalists were killed.
Two journalists were killed in both Mexico and Sri Lanka. Other countries with media fatalities were Afghanistan, Colombia, El Salvador, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Nepal, Nigeria, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Venezuela.
Fifty-six percent of those killed worked for print media, highlighting the continuing importance of newspapers and blogs in covering important stories that may not lend themselves to television.
“In Mexico print journalists, for example, are the ones who tend to write the exposes on organized crime and drug trafficking,” Mahoney said. “It’s the fact that a lot of print journalists are doing that kind of work that gets them killed by assassins.”
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un renewed his call for a “limitless” expansion of his military nuclear program to counter US-led threats in comments reported yesterday that were his first direct criticism toward Washington since US president-elect Donald Trump’s electoral victory on Oct. 6. At a conference with army officials on Friday, Kim condemned the US for updating its nuclear deterrence strategies with South Korea and solidifying three-way military cooperation involving Japan, which he portrayed as an “Asian NATO” that was escalating tensions and instability in the region. Kim also criticized the US over its support of Ukraine against a prolonged Russian invasion.
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
RSS