Sixty-five scribes killed in 2020: IFJ

Brussels: As many as 65 journalists and media staff were killed in work-related incidents around the world during 2020, the International Federation of Journalists said in its annual report published on Friday.

“The annual report, in its 30th edition, details the circumstances of the 65 killings which occurred during targeted attacks, bomb attacks and cross-fire incidents in 16 countries,” the journalists body said in a statement.

It brings the total to 2680 journalists and media workers who lost their lives to violence in the world since 1990, when the IFJ started publishing these annual reports to highlight the deepening safety crisis in the media.

The figures published by the Federation for this year show that the number of media professionals’ killings are more or less on the same levels as in 1990s.

The IFJ said that the report cites among the main reasons for the safety crisis in journalism the organised crime groups, extremists and sectarian violence which continue to strike terror among journalists, dozens of whom paid the ultimate price for their independent reporting in the four corners of the world.

The report’s 2020 ranking per country has Mexico at the top of the list for the fourth time in five years with 14 killings, followed by Afghanistan (10), Pakistan (9), India (8), Philippines (4), Syria (4) while Nigeria and Yemen recorded three killings each. There were also two killings in Iraq and Somalia. Finally, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Honduras, Paraguay, Russia and Sweden recorded one killing each. (UNI)