More journalists and media staffers have been killed during the Iraq war than during 22 years of conflict in Vietnam, Reporters Without Borders said Wednesday. The organization said Iraq was the world's deadliest place for media members for the third consecutive year, with 24 journalists and five aides killed. Most victims in Iraq died in insurgent and terrorist attacks, and three were killed by the U.S. military, Reporters Without Borders said. A total of 76 journalists and media staff have been killed since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, the group said. Sixty-three reporters were killed in the 1955-1977 conflict in Vietnam, the group said, citing figures from U.S.-based press advocacy group Freedom Forum. Jean-Francois Juillard, director of information for Reporters Without Borders, said fewer journalists and media organizations covered Vietnam and media members in Iraq can be targeted by insurgents.
"Journalists are often not considered witnesses or independent observers, but as enemies" in Iraq, Juillard said.Looking at this list I can't help but get the impression that journalists tend to die at the hands of those who may be expected to dislike them. I had gotten the impression from the newspapers that most journalists died at the hands of US or Iraqi forces. But in fact US forces were involved in 4 deaths and they were not obviously "hits" but shootings in ambiguous situations. On the other hand, at least 14 pro-US journalists were clearly murdered; perhaps more, but the motives are not always clear. Steven Vincent was apparently the only foreign journalist to die in Iraq, unless some of the others had foreign passports.
The Washington Post recently wrote a somewhat disparaging article of bloggers on the battlefield, mentioning Bill Roggio in particular. I hadn't realized that a blogger -- and not a regular Western professional correspondent -- was the only foreign journalist to die in Iraq in 2005. |