UNESCO reports on average, every 5 days, journalists are killed for bringing information to the public in attacks to clamp down on free speech.
UNESCO is working to promote the safety of journalists and combatting impunity for those who attack them. On average, every five days a journalist is killed for bringing information to the public. These attacks include murder, abductions, harassment, intimidation, illegal arrest, and arbitrary detention.
The attacks on media professionals are often executed in non-conflict situations by organized crime groups, militia, security personnel, and even local police, making local journalists among the most vulnerable.
Journalists are under digital siege. They’re being surveilled, harassed & abused. Their lives are at risk. On #WorldPressFreedomDay
, take action to ensure #PressFreedom is never blocked. End this siege & help journalists all over the world. Share this post. Unblock journalism.
Journalists are under digital siege. They're being surveilled, harassed & abused. Their lives are at risk.
On #WorldPressFreedomDay, take action to ensure #PressFreedom is never blocked.
End this siege & help journalists all over the world.
Share this post. Unblock journalism. pic.twitter.com/1furnAGZmx
— UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳😷 (@UNESCO) May 3, 2022
UNESCO: Democracy cannot exist without independent press and professional journalism, without verified and free information, especially in our world, shaken by crises, from pandemics to climate change, and conflicts” –
@AAzoulay
"Democracy cannot exist without independent press and professional journalism, without verified and free information, especially in our world, shaken by crises, from pandemics to climate change, and conflicts" – @AAzoulay #PressFreedom #WorldPressFreedomDay https://t.co/SotAVVobAF
— UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳😷 (@UNESCO) May 3, 2022
This is the ranking for freedom of the press in India. Senior anchor and journalist Rajdeep Sardesai tweeted:
World Press Freedom Index Ranking of India
2016: Rank 133
2018: Rank 138
2021: Rank 142
And now,
2022: Rank 150 out of 180. Enough said. Happy world press freedom day!
World Press Freedom Index Ranking of India
2016: Rank 133
2018: Rank 138
2021: Rank 142
And now,
2022: Rank 150 out of 180. Enough said. Happy world press freedom day! 🙏— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) May 3, 2022
Attacks on Journalists in India
Forty journalists were killed in India, 198 serious attacks in the last five years. During the 40 attacks where journalists died, 21 were confirmed to be related to their journalistic work. At least 198 serious attacks were registered on reporters between 2014 to 2019, and of these, 36 happened in 2019 alone. Six of these occurred during the protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act.
The researchers chose 63 cases in all to follow up on – where scribes were found to have been attacked for their investigative work – and found a near-zero conviction rate. “Of the 63 cases studied, FIRs were lodged in only 25 cases. In 18 of these, the case hasn’t progressed beyond registering the FIR. Charge sheets were filed in three cases but the process stalled thereafter. In only four cases, a trial has commenced.”
“Journalists covering conflict or news events were specifically targeted by irate mobs, supporters of religious sects, political parties, student groups, lawyers, police, and security forces,” the report said. “Perpetrators of the killings and attacks included government agencies, security forces, political party members, religious sects, student groups, criminal gangs, and local mafias.”
Journalists were discovered to be especially vulnerable in conflict zones, such as Kashmir, and Bastar in Chhattisgarh – not just from being caught in the crossfire, but also from law enforcement officials. In 2017, at least 14 journalists were arrested by the Chhattisgarh government on various charges. And this report highlights the challenges such as information lockdown and intimidation being faced by journalists in Kashmir.
The free press – the fourth pillar of democracy is under attack and in recent years, it has become more and more dangerous to be a journalist in India. A report called ‘Getting Away with Murder by journalists Geeta Seshu and Urvashi Sarkar on attacks on journalists in the last five years has some grim findings. The research was funded by Thakur Foundation, which works in areas including public health, the right to information, and civil liberties.
The report went on to say that “The ultimate censorship is the killings, that have claimed as victims both prominent senior journalists and editors in state capitals, to locally influential journalists as well as the foot-soldiers –stringers and freelancers- in small districts and towns across India,” the report says. The majority of the journalists who were found to have been killed or attacked were self-published, written on social media, or published in regional media.
“At least seven cases pertain to journalists pursuing investigative work on illegal activities, including reports on sand mining, illicit liquor trade, land grab, water mafia, etc.,” the report said.
The report also highlights attacks on women journalists – they were found to be the targets of “relentless online harassment” as well, apart from “brutal” offline targeting in the field. Examples: Gauri Lankesh’s murder in a residential area in Bengaluru in 2017, a petrol bomb attack carried out at the home of Shillong Times editor Patrician Mukhim, journalists Sandhya Ravishankar and M Suchitra attacked in Chennai while covering illegal mining among others.
Gauri Lankesh, a high-profile journalist and activist who spoke out against the advancement of right-wing Hindu extremism and stood up for India’s marginalized people, was shot to death on 5 September 2017. A 9,325-page charge sheet naming 18 accused was filed in November 2018. The trial is yet to begin.
Also, there seems to be no official record or data when it comes to attacks on journalists. The study’s sources were a Rajya Sabha response, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) data, Press Council of India (PCI), news reports, and so on.
Attacks on Journalists around the Globe
There were over 94 journalists and media staff was killed in work-related incidents around the world within the last five years according to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
Out of the 94 people killed, five were from Pakistan. The new death toll records a slight increase, up from 82 killings recorded the previous year, and represents a reversal of the downward trend from the last three years.
According to IFJ’s list for 2018, armed conflict and militant extremism accounted for most journalists’ killings in countries like Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen, while there was a sharp decline in violence against journalists in Iraq since armed groups lost power in the country.
These factors contributed to perpetuating an environment in which, consistently, there are more journalists killed for covering their communities, cities, and countries than for reporting in armed zones.
According to the records for 2018, the Asia Pacific had the highest killing tally with 32, followed by the Americas with 27 killings, and the Middle East and the Arab World registered 20 cases. Africa comes fourth with 11 killings before Europe with four.
The IFJ list for 2018 highlighted the barbaric murder of the Washington Post columnist and Saudi national, Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. This was the latest in a series of horrific attacks on media professionals, including the multiple bomb attacks which transformed Afghanistan into a slaying zone for journalists and the rule of violence by the organized mafia in Mexico which targets journalists.
He said that as such the numbers stood as a damning indictment of the authorities for their failure to uphold the journalists’ right to their physical safety and to guarantee an informed public discourse in a democracy.
There are low convictions, and a poor justice system while some journalists also voiced unwillingness to report attacks on them to the police. “Journalists have had police raid their homes, smash their cameras, and even fire tear-gas shells into their homes.
In July 2018, Fahad Shah, editor of The Kashmirwalla, took to Twitter to say that a teargas shell was fired into his home, two weeks after his parents’ car was broken. Shah did not file a formal complaint. “Whom do I complain to? I know who did it but what’s the point. Later, I got an ‘informal’ message via someone that it should not have been done and that the action was regretted,” he said to a researcher […],” the study says.
In many cases, if journalists did go for legal proceedings, they were not backed by their employers.
How Can One Stop This Violence against Journalists
There need to be strong grids to support journalists, human rights activists, lawyers, and medical practitioners who can also help by delivering timely assistance. The report also suggests building up a network of journalists’ organizations and groups to set up helplines, provide safety, and monitor cases and justice delivery till their conclusion.
Researchers make several recommendations such as reaching out to journalists, their families, and colleagues without delay, providing medical and financial assistance, and psychological assistance to families of the deceased as well as to journalists who have faced attack.
It is also recommended for the government to take a forceful stand when journalists are attacked, appointing a high-level official to look into the investigation and ensure that there is no pressure on law enforcement.
Apart from quasi-legal bodies like PCI (Press Council of India) and NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) taking suo-motu cognizance of such cases, they should endeavor to make their investigations and findings public, and monitor probes. Employers are urged to support their journalists and not leave them in the lurch to fend for themselves.
If the nation leaves journalists to fend for themselves or attack the fourth pillar of democracy, they are simply cutting the branch on the tree they are sitting on.