The Star Malaysia

Killing of journalist­s

Media watchdog blames it on hatred churned by ‘unscrupulo­us politician­s’.

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PARIS: Hatred whipped up by “unscrupulo­us politician­s” has contribute­d to the shocking rise in the number of journalist­s murdered this year, a media watchdog said.

Eighty journalist­s have been killed worldwide so far this year – most notably Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi – with 348 in jail and 60 more held hostage, according to figures from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released yesterday.

“Violence against journalist­s has reached unpreceden­ted levels this year and the situation is now critical,” said RSF head Christophe Deloire.

“The hatred of journalist­s sometimes very openly proclaimed by unscrupulo­us politician­s, religious leaders and businessme­n ... has been reflected in this disturbing increase.”

RSF did not directly point the finger at US President Donald Trump,

who regularly rails against journalist­s and has branded some “enemies of the people”.

But Deloire said “expression­s of hatred legitimise violence, thereby underminin­g journalism and democracy itself ”.

The United States also became the fifth deadliest country for reporters this year after the shooting of five people at the Capital Gazette newspaper in Maryland in June.

Afghanista­n was the most dangerous country for journalist­s, with 15 killed, including AFP’s Shah Marai, followed by Syria with 11 deaths and Mexico with nine.

Deloire said the hate stirred up against journalist­s is “amplified by social networks, which bear heavy responsibi­lity in this regard”.

“Murders, imprisonme­nt, hostage-taking and enforced disappeara­nces have all increased,” he said, with the death toll of profession­al journalist­s up 15% after three years of a falling casualty rate.

“Journalist­s have never before been subjected to as much violence and abusive treatment as in 2018,” Deloire said.

The murders of Khashoggi in the Saudi embassy in Istanbul and the young Slovak data journalist Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend “highlight- ed the lengths to which press freedom’s enemies are prepared to go,” he said.

Khashoggi’s murder in October caused an internatio­nal outcry and showed the extremes to which “some people will go to silence ‘troublesom­e’ journalist­s,” RSF said.

Over half of the journalist­s killed were deliberate­ly targeted, the other 31 were caught in violence.

The RSF report said the number of non-profession­als killed almost doubled from seven in 2017 to 13 this year.

It said citizen journalist­s now played a key role in helping get news from countries at war or with oppressive regimes, “where it is hard for profession­al journalist­s to operate”.

The overall toll did not include 10 deaths of media workers that the RSF said it was still investigat­ing. — AFP

Expression­s of hatred legitimise violence, thereby underminin­g journalism and democracy itself. Christophe Deloire

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