Conflict Journalism

Brussels, 29 August - The death of a Reuters soundman brings the total of journalists and support staff known to have been killed by US forces in the Iraq war to 13. Eighty-one members of the news media have died since the war began in March 2003, according to figures compiled by the International News Safety Institute. More than half - 50 - were murdered by insurgents and other unidentified...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the global organisation representing more than 500,000 journalists in over 110 countries, has growing concerns over press freedom and human rights violations in Nepal. The IFJ is concerned that the latest incidents have seen a number of journalists harassed and threatened by government forces and the suspected abduction of three other journalists...

The International Federation of Journalists today said that the shooting of a Reuters sound technician by United States troops in Iraq at the weekend brings to 18 the number of journalists and media staff killed by US troops since the invasion of Iraq. "The number of unexplained media killings by US military personnel is intolerable," said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. "Media organisations...

Two sides at war with each other – the United States and an al Qaida-linked group in Iraq - have found a common target, the Arabic television channel Aljazeera. If US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has accused Aljazeera of attacking the image of the US, the leader of the al Qaida-linked group Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has charged the Arabic channel of being a mouthpiece for the Americans. Rumsfeld a...

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has alleged that Aljazeera is encouraging armed Islamist groups by broadcasting beheadings of foreign hostages in Iraq. Speaking at a security conference in Singapore on Saturday, Rumsfeld said that "if anyone lived in the Middle East and watched a network like the Aljazeera day after day after day, even if he was an American, he would start waking up and...

New York, May 23, 2005–The former presenter for a popular MTV-style music video program was shot and killed in her home in Kabul last week. Shaima Rezayee, 24, hosted the daily music program "Hop" on the private television channel Tolo TV until March. Police told The Associated Press that Rezayee was killed May 18 by a single bullet wound to the head and that members of her family may have been...

The worldwide toll of journalists and critical support staff killed covering the story is spiralling. Last year was the deadliest in at least a decade. So far this year, the International News Safety Institute has recorded 19 members of the news media killed at work in 11 countries, all but two of them murdered and no one brought to justice. In great swathes of the world, across many countries...

Iraq is the world's most dangerous country for journalists and the place where the most are kidnapped. 56 journalists and media assistants have been killed there since the fighting began on 22 March 2003 and 29 kidnapped. The Iraq conflict is the deadliest inter-state war for journalists since the one in Vietnam, when 63 were killed, but over a period of 20 years (1955-75). During the fighting in...

One of the most powerful executives in the cable news business, CNN's Eason Jordan, was brought down after he spoke out of school during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in January. In a rare moment of candor, Jordan reportedly said that the US military had targeted a dozen journalists who had been killed in Iraq. The comments quickly ignited a firestorm on the Internet, fueled by...

In a major victory for the family of José Couso, the Spanish government of José Rodriguez Zapatero recently awarded José a "Gold Medal for Professional Merit". provides a measure of relief from the utter contempt and arrogance that had been shown by the previous Spanish government. In addition to José, the award in a public ceremony to other Spanish reporters Julio Anguita Parrado, Ricardo Ortega...