Sixty-five journalists were killed worldwide in 2017, including fifty professionals, seven "citizen journalists" (bloggers) and eight "media associates", according to the annual report of Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Without Borders). RSF), which is published today.
This report means that 2017 was the year with the fewest murders of professional journalists in fourteen years, according to the Paris-based NGO. This is partly due to better protection for journalists, but also to the fact that the most dangerous countries are "abandoned by their journalists".
Of the 65 journalists (professional and non-professional) killed during the year, 39 were killed or deliberately targeted, while another 26 were killed in the line of duty.
As in 2016, Syria remained the deadliest country for journalists, with 12 deaths recorded in 2017, ahead of Mexico (11), Afghanistan (9), Iraq (8) and the Philippines (4).
Although fewer journalists were killed worldwide in 2017 compared to the previous year, 79 had lost their lives, an 18% decrease, according to the organization, due to the "growing awareness of the need for better protection of journalists and the proliferation of campaigns." carried out for this purpose by international organizations, but also the media themselves ". As well as the fact that "countries that have become very dangerous are being abandoned by their journalists".
"This happened in Syria, in Iraq, in Yemen, in Libya, where the profession is bleeding," RSF said.
While armed conflicts endanger the lives of journalists covering these wars, in countries such as Mexico, "drug cartels and policies" create an "atmosphere of terror", forcing journalists to leave their country or their profession ".
"Mexico is the most dangerous non-war country in the world for journalists," the RSF report said.
In countries where drug cartel activity is rampant, journalists covering political corruption or organized crime are systematically threatened and often executed.
This happened to Javier Valdes Cardenas, a highly experienced 50-year-old Mexican journalist, collaborator of the French Agency and many Mexican media, who was cold-bloodedly killed on May 15.