2009 is the deadliest year for journalists worldwide, with the election-related massacre of 31 journalists and media workers in the Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre fuelling the record toll of 68, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.
In its yearend analysis, the CPJ said the killings in Maguindanao make up the “deadliest event for the press in CPJ history.”
The New York group recorded at least 68 journalists worldwide killed for their work this year, “the highest yearly tally” it said it ever documented, surpassing the previous record of 67 deaths set in 2007 when the Iraq war was raging.
The CPJ is investigating 20 other journalist deaths this year to determine if they were work-related. The 2009 toll is up more than 60 percent from the 42 deaths recorded last year.
“This has been a year of unprecedented devastation for the world’s media, but the violence also confirms long-term trends,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “Most of the victims were local reporters covering news in their own communities. The perpetrators assumed, based on precedent, that they would never be punished. Whether the killings are in Iraq or the Philippines, in Russia or Mexico, changing this assumption is the key to reducing the death toll.”
The CPJ said the Maguindanao killings “reflect the deep-seated climate of impunity in the Philippines, where long-term law enforcement and political failures have led to high numbers of journalist murders and low rates of convictions over two decades.”
Said Bob Dietz, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator: “The killings in the Philippines are a shocking but not entirely surprising product of a long-term reality: The government has allowed unpunished violence against journalists, most of it politically motivated, to become part of the culture. The Maguindanao massacre could serve as a turning point for the Philippines if its leaders can gather the political will to see that the perpetrators are brought to justice. If it is business as usual, we will continue to see journalists killed in the years to come.”
The CPJ recorded three other work-related deaths in the Philippines in 2009, bringing to 34 the number of journalists and two support workers were killed in the country during the year.
According to the CPJ, the deadliest countries in 2009 are the Philippines, 32 deaths; Somalia, nine; Iraq, four; Pakistan, four; Russia, three; Sri Lanka, two; and Mexico, two. Countries with one recorded death include Venezuela, Nepal, Madagascar, Nigeria, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, El Savldar, Colombia, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Iran, Afghanistan and Kenya.
CPJ began compiling detailed records on all journalist deaths in 1992.