Reporters at risk
In the backdrop of World Press Freedom Day, it makes sense to revisit a report compiled by Amnesty International and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which informs us that Mexico is the Western Hemisphere’s most dangerous country for journalists. Since the turn of the century, as many as 141 journalists and other media workers have been killed, per CPJ research. At least 61 of those killings were found to be directly related to their work. That statistic is now being offset by the grim count of journalists killed in Gaza since last October, which has now hit 97. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) puts the number at 108. In the first 50 days of the conflict, journalists were being killed at a rate of roughly one per day, making Gaza the most dangerous zone for journalists since the CPJ began keeping records in 1992.
The vast majority of reporters – more than 90 – are Palestinians killed in Gaza itself. Some of those were regarded as the inevitable ‘collateral damage’ of a conflict that the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry said has already claimed more than 34,000 lives, caught in crossfire because they were working close to active fighting.
The CPJ, RSF and a host of other news organisations however beg to differ as they accuse Israeli troops of targeting many of the journalists because of their work. According to RSF, “many of them were reporting in the field and were clearly identifiable as journalists. Others were killed by strikes that specifically targeted their homes.” There is a growing demand for an investigation into the allegations, which if confirmed would constitute a war crime. It might also severely undermine Israel’s claim to be the only democracy in the Middle East that respects freedom of the press. Of course, it might be foolhardy to assume that such transgressions on the well-being of reporters are occurring only in conflicted regions.
Across the world, journalism is staring at an unprecedented assault. The CPJ, which tracks the number of journalists in prison globally, with a snapshot taken on December 1 each year, said that 2023 was the second highest on record with 320 behind bars. If one were to consider the charges levelled against the scribes, almost two-thirds of them are being held on account of “anti-state charges”, essentially terrorism, sedition, and treason. It’s a direct fallout of governments treating journalism as an existential threat, and not as a pillar that supports the state by upholding democratic values such as transparency, accountability and vibrant public debate.
One of the most prominent leaders to make a sideshow of the reporters tasked with covering his antics is US former President, Donald Trump who routinely dismissed journalists as “fake news” and accused them of being at “war” with democracy. Trump’s casual dismissal of newspersons was all it took to embolden his MAGA brigade, and validated their tendencies to brush off critical reporting, and offered them an opportunity to choose their own ‘alternative facts’. It’s a problem that seems to be spiralling out of control here in India, especially on account of the election season. The murders of Gauri Lankesh, and MM Kalburgi, and the intimidation heaped upon scribes like Siddique Kappan and Rana Ayyub, and others who dare to speak truth to power, as recalled by CM Stalin, is a stain that has no place in our democracy.