According to a special  CPJ report prepared by Elana Beiser and Elisabeth Witchel violent attack against the media eased in 2016 from recent record levels as the number of journalists singled out for murder declined. The number of journalists killed in the line of duty is on track to decline in 2016 from recent record levels as fewer journalists were targeted for murder, the Committee to Protect Journalists found in its annual analysis. Deaths in combat or crossfire ticked to their highest number since 2013 as conflicts in the Middle East dragged on.
At least 48 journalists were killed in relation to their work between January 1 and December 15, 2016. CPJ is investigating the deaths of at least 27 more journalists during the year to determine whether they were work-related.
More than half of the journalists killed in the year died in combat or crossfire, for the first time since CPJ began keeping records. The conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Afghanistan, and Somalia claimed the lives of 26 journalists who died covering the fighting.
Historically, about two thirds of journalists killed are singled out for murder in retaliation for their work, according to CPJ’s detailed records since 1992. This year, 18 journalists were targeted directly for murder, the lowest number since 2002. The reason for the decline is unclear, and could be a combination of factors including less risk-taking by the media, more efforts to bring global attention to the challenge of combatting impunity, and the use of other means to silence critical journalists.
Overall, Syria was the most deadly country for journalists for the fifth year in a row. At least 14 journalists were killed in Syria in 2016, the same number as in 2015, bringing the total number killed there in the line of duty since conflict broke out to at least 107.
Some other trends that emerged from CPJ’s research:
- Political groups, including Islamist militant organizations, were responsible for more than half of the killings of journalists this year.
- War was the most dangerous beat, covered by 75 percent of the victims.
- Photographer and camera operator were the most dangerous jobs.
- Twenty percent of the journalists killed in 2016 were freelancers.
- In line with historical trends, nine out of 10 journalists killed were local, not foreign.
CPJ began compiling detailed records on all journalist deaths in 1992. CPJ staff members independently investigate and verify the circumstances behind each death. CPJ considers a case work-related only when its staff is reasonably certain that a journalist was killed in direct reprisal for his or her work; in combat-related crossfire; or while carrying out a dangerous assignment.
