A few days back, Shireen Abu Akleh, a renowned Al-Jazeera reporter, was killed by bullets while she was covering news of an Israeli operation in the city of Jenin. According to available sources, Israeli forces shot dead her while there was no presence of Palestinians on the spot in the occupied West Bank at that time. This raised a huge concern around the world and, along with condemnation by different quarters including the United Nations, many have already demanded to bring the killers to punishment. Of course, she is not the only journalist who is killed. In 2021, around 55 journalists were killed across countries. More importantly, the number of killings is increasing in many countries in the world.
Why journalists are killed is not unknown. Some notable reasons include a backdrop of impunity or an inadequate presence of justice, an increased presence of organized crimes, indifference from the concerned authorities and the patronization of the powerful elites. Of course, the type of reporting can pose a heightened risk of the murders of journalists. Reporting on corruption, war reporting and crime reports are riskier for journalists. These often lead to retaliatory intention which in turn leads to the targeted killing of journalists. According to available sources, four journalists were targeted for killing in Mexico in 2020. But, in most cases, murderers of journalists do not get punishment and go free. This is mainly because of several reasons including the political, monetary and other powers of the killers, along a lack of justice.
Of course, along with deaths, journalists face kidnapping, hostage taking, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, intimidation and harassment. But the killing of journalists is more common in countries that are characterized by high corruption, authoritarian rule, or a hostile attitude towards journalists. For example, journalists are killed more in Mexico, Afghanistan and the Philippines. In these countries, journalists are killed mostly in retaliation for their work. Among countries, Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for the press media, which operates there amid a complicated web of criminals, gangs of drug-trafficking as well as heightened official corruption that put journalists at an increased risk.
As a consequence of the killing of journalists, different groups including corrupt officials and political leaders and smugglers are unjustly benefited. This is mainly because the killing of journalists not only can hide dangerous crimes but also may intimidate other journalists for their work. In contrast, the killing of journalists has enormous negative consequences on the freedom of expression as well as society. Indeed, the free press, which is rendered as the fourth pillar of democracy, is challenged when journalists are killed. Also, an increased killing, which leads to less reporting on certain aspects including the corruption of powerful groups, can result in increased corruption and other crimes in different societies.
The safety of journalists from killing is, thus, important for the betterment of society. In this respect, the punishment of killers needs to be ensured in a strict manner. Indeed, punishment can reduce the killing of journalists largely. But the concerned authorities need to play their roles here. Of course, the roles of others, including the United Nations and non-government organizations at the local and intentional levels are crucial for bringing killers to justice in different countries. Moreover, journalists need to take some tactically protective steps on their own. They need to understand where the risk is dangerously more and whether they are protected from the potential risk.
