Breaking Through Photo
Written by: Karen Campbell
Central Florida television journalist Dylan Lyons was fatally shot while covering a murder in Florida. It's a reminder that journalism can be a very dangerous job. Last year at least 67 journalists and media workers were killed during the year, the highest number since 2018. Sixty-seven deaths represents a nearly 50% increase from 2021, according to a report from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)The increase was primarily caused by a large number of deaths associated with the Ukraine conflict and a sharp increase in violence in Latin America. CPJ has documented that at least 41 journalists and media professionals have been killed for their jobs, and is investigating the causes of the deaths of 26 others in order to determine if they were the result of a professional endeavor. More than a third of the 67 homicides took place in just three countries: Ukraine had 15, Mexico had 13, and Haiti had 7. This was the highest annual number of homicides recorded for these countries by CPJ.
In Mexico and Haiti, reporters were murdered by brutal individuals for their profession, the majority of perpetrators have not been punished. Mexico is still on the CPJ's Global Impunity Index, which highlights countries that allow murderers of journalists to go unpunished. Other fatalities during the year involved a variety of topics: crime and corruption in Colombia; political unrest in Israel, the Palestinian Territories and Brazil; the environment in Brazil; and local politics in Turkey and the United States. Their deaths illustrate the magnitude of the dangers faced by the press in general, including in countries with elected governments that are democratic.
The CPJ reports on the deaths of journalists in relation to their job: the majority of deaths are targeted reprisals for reporting, this is the largest category; deaths during combat or crossfire are also common, and deaths on other dangerous assignments are reported as well. CPJ also records the deaths of media-supporting personnel, such as translators, drivers, and security personnel, there was one such incident in 2022 in Kazakhstan.
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