The balance sheet is all in contrast but the first figure is dizzying: according to the latest Reporters Without Borders report, 1,668 journalists have been killed in the world since 2003 while exercising their profession, that is to say 80 per year on average.

Iraq and Syria dominate the ranking of the most dangerous countries for the profession.

"With a total of 578 killed in 20 years", these two war-scarred States "collect, alone, more than a third of the reporters killed", ahead of Mexico (125), the Philippines (107), Pakistan (93), Afghanistan (81) and Somalia (78), with men accounting for over 95% of deaths.

Over the past two decades, the "darkest" years date back to 2012 and 2013, with "respectively 144 and 142 murders of journalists, in particular due to the conflict in Syria", underlines RSF.

These deadly peaks were followed "by a gradual lull, then by historically low figures from 2019", notes the organization for the defense of press freedom.

But the death toll started to rise again in 2022, with 58 journalists killed in the line of duty, compared to 51 the previous year, due to the war in Ukraine.

War in Ukraine and South American cartels

Eight journalists have lost their lives there since the Russian invasion in February, adding to the 12 journalists who had been killed there “in the previous 19 years”.

Ukraine is thus in second place in the ranking of the most dangerous countries in Europe, behind Russia (25 killed in 20 years).

"Since Vladimir Putin came to power, attacks - including fatal ones - on the freedom of the press have been systematic there, as RSF has often denounced, with in particular the emblematic liquidation of Anna Politkovskaïa on October 7, 2006 “, insists the NGO.



With eight deaths recorded, France appears in fourth place in Europe, behind Turkey, "due to the Charlie Hebdo killings in Paris in 2015".

On a global scale, while the coverage of armed conflicts explains many deaths, over the past 20 years, "more journalists have been killed in 'peace zones' than in 'war zones' because of their Organized Crime and Corruption Investigations”.

Concentrating nearly half of the journalists killed in 2022, the American continent (Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, etc.) is thus “undeniably the most dangerous for the media today”, according to RSF.

World

Freedom of the press: More than 500 journalists imprisoned worldwide

Justice

Journalist murdered in Malta in 2017: Two brothers each sentenced to 40 years in prison

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