Press Freedom Day: 53 journalists killed as attacks on media houses worsen globally ― IPI

As the spate of the dreaded coronavirus worsened globally, cases of attacks both on media houses and journalists have also hit a very high peak, the International Press Institute (IPI) has said.

A statement released by the IPI Director of Advocacy, Ravi R. Prasad on Saturday in commemoration of World Press Freedom Day, noted that no fewer than 53 journalists have been killed while a total of 162 violations of press freedom have been recorded in less than three months since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak.

IPI stated that the health crisis which the world is currently grappling with “has allowed governments to excise control over the media houses and attack journalists carelessly on the pretext of preventing the spread of disinformation.

“The state of press freedom around the world has worsened with the spread of the COVID-19, as governments both autocratic and democratic are increasingly clamping down on the media. Within months of spreading across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges to journalists and media outlets,” the statement reads in part.

According to the IPI statement: “Arrests, physical attacks and regressive fake news regulations have exacerbated an already difficult environment for the media. Authoritarian governments with an already poor press freedom record have abused emergency measures to further stifle independent media and criminalise journalism. But in democracies, too, efforts to control the public narrative and restrict access to information around the pandemic are on the rise.

“From preventing critical media to attend official briefings on COVID-19 to closing down media outlets and instituting surveillance that may have a long term impact on press freedom, governments are using every possible tactic to suppress press freedom at a time when the free flow of independent news is more essential than ever in this situation in informing the public on vital measures to contain the virus.”

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It added that: “Almost a third of all violations recorded have involved the arrest, detention or charging of journalists reporting on the pandemic, according to IPI’s data,” adding that, “globally, more than 50 cases of verbal and physical attacks against reporters while covering the coronavirus pandemic have been recorded while more than 27 different cases of censorship have been documented, with a further 25 incidents of disproportionate restrictions on access to information.

“It is crucial that these extraordinary restrictions on media imposed during the crisis do not become normalized and outlive the immediate health crisis, especially when it comes to lack of transparency by governments, lack of access by media to decision-makers and any form of surveillance hindering the press.”

The press body noted that 32 out of the 53 journalists killed so far were murdered by armed groups, state security forces, or organised criminals.

“Latin America continues to be the worst region in the world for journalists, where 20 journalists lost their lives in targeted attacks, with 10 in Mexico alone. Armed conflicts and civil unrests claimed the lives of 14 journalists.

“Of these seven were killed in Syria and three were killed in Afghanistan, Chad and Yemen respectively while covering armed conflicts. Two journalists died in Iraq covering the civil unrest. A further six were killed while on assignment.

“Unfortunately, investigations into targeted killings remain slow and deficient. As a result, no arrests have been made in many of these cases. Positively, progress has been made in the trials of those suspected of murdering Slovak investigative reporter Ján Kuciak and fiancée Martina Kusnirova.

“Since 1997, IPI’s Death Watch has tallied journalists deliberately targeted because of their profession and those who lost their lives while covering conflict or while on assignment.”