Every year, UNESCO honours an outstanding individual that has defended or promoted press freedom anywhere on the planet. The Guillermo Cano Prize usually goes to courageous journalists who have put their lives on the line for the truth to be heard. Award winners Anna Politkovskaya and Lasantha Wickrematunge were both murdered before they could pick their prizes.
Anna Politkovskaya's murder is remembered as one of the most serious attacks on press freedom in recent times.
2009 was the deadliest year in history for journalists – 68 journalists worldwide were killed for their work according to
Committee to Protect Journalists.
Worrying statistics:
3 journalists killed in 2010
801 journalists killed since 1992
516 journalists murdered with impunity since 1992
47 journalists imprisoned in Iran
It’s interesting that journalists are often killed for their job. I know 68 people lost their lives in 2009 – it’s very sad, but this does seem like a very small number compared to the number of journalists actually out there going about their profession. Their must be millions of journalists worldwide and if just 68 of them lost their lives in that given year then that is a very small percentage.
Many jobs are a lot more dangerous – being a fisherman or a fireman for example. Even car death statistics can outweigh deaths of journalists. Is journalism really that dangerous – possibly in a country where conflict may be prevalent then yes? Often journalists put themselves at risk of death for the sake of a story. Is life worth a story? That’s up to you as a journalist to decide. I just think these sorts of statistics make the job of a journalist sound much more dangerous than it really is…
I almost forgot to add…
http://www.careerbuilder.com/Article/CB-777-Changing-Jobs-Worlds-Most-Dangerous-Jobs/?ArticleID=777&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=ec67bd31002e45e19430a01a5db76576-320840572-wr-6&ns_siteid=ns_us_g_world%27s_most_danger_
The UN General Assembly declared 3 May to be World Press Freedom Day to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.